Shadowhunter Reunion
by Musiclove95
Summary: After the events of The Clockwork Angel and City of Glass, the Clave decides its time for all the Shadowhunters to get together and have a party to celebrate their victory. Better than it sounds. Please read! xoxo takes place in 21st century.
1. Idris

**Heyy! Sooo . . . I was feeling inspired the other day and this idea just sorta popped into my head. I was sitting in English class and one of my friends and I were talking about _Clockwork Angel_ and all of a sudden I was like "What if the characters of the two books were to meet?" Well, she looked at me like I was crazy and I was luckily spared from having to reply back because the teacher came in and started the class. So, this is my FIRST CROSSOVER! I'm really excited to be writing this and I think you'll like it. It includes Jace and Will butting heads and basically trying to see who can piss the other off, Jessamine being her stuck-up self and pissing Clary ****and Isabelle off (you'll see how), and Jem and Alec being in the middle and having to control them all as usual. **

**As I said, this is my first ever crossover so if I do a suck-ish job of bringing the two book together, please please please pretty pretty pretty please with cherries and whip cream and Swedish Berries on top don't shoot me! This chapter is pretty short but it's sort of the pilot chapter, so i think that's okay. If I get enough reviews I already have chapter 2 started so i will post that, but only if there is interest. **

**This takes place in the 21st century but after the events of COG and Clockwork Angel. I'm super sorry if I suck at writing people talking British or offend any British people, I'm a Canadian (eh!) so I don't exactly hear people speaking in English accents and phrases 24/7. **

**ENJOY!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot of this I owned the books I wouldn't be posting this on here. **

1. Idris

Clarissa Fairchild stood in the front foyer of the Institute with the Lightwood's. They were going to the big 'Shadowhunter Reunion' in Idris, and were currently awaiting the arrival of Magnus Bane, the warlock who was to open up a Portal for them. And he was late, as usual.

"God! What the hell is taking him so long? He's not _going_ to Idris, he's just opening up a frickin' Portal! Why does he feel the need to be totally sparkle-ified every moment of the day?" Isabelle Lightwood complained, trying to fix her flawless hair in the mirror. _The same reason why you feel the need to beautify every moment of the day_, Clary thought, but kept her mouth shut. Isabelle could be a bit of a pain in the ass sometimes, but she was like a sister to Clary, and contrary to popular belief it is _not_ the duty of sisters to piss each other off 24/7.

"I dunno, Iz. But it sure is a pain sometimes. I mean, I could just as easily _draw_ a Portal. Anyways, leave your hair alone, it looks perfect. If anyone has the right to complain, it's me. I don't know why you straightened my hair, but as soon as it comes in contact with the New York humidity it's going to explode into a red puffball," Clary said, removing Isabelle's hands from her hair.

"Umm, 'cause I want you to look smokin' hot when it comes to meeting all the sexy Shadowhunter boys. With the demanding life we live, I doubt you'll be able to see a single fat person there. Well, except some of the people in the Gard. They're lazy slobs who basically turn to us to fix all of their damn messes and screw ups," Isabelle explained in a placating voice.

Clary shook her head and looked over at where the blond boy was standing with Alec Lightwood, discussing new ways to make seraph blades. "—in the London Institute. They use this machine and it's much quicker than the way we do it here!" the dark haired boy, Alec, was saying excitedly. The blond boy looked as if he was bored, as per his usual.

"Stop staring at Jace, Clary. You can do better, _way_ better." Clary turned to look at Isabelle. She shot her friend a confused look.

"I thought you approved of Jace and I dating. We've been together for like, a year now and you haven't complained. What's all this now, about me 'finding someone better'?"

Isabelle sighed and shook her head. "Clary, Clary, Clary. Poor naïve Clary. I don't _mind_ that you're dating my adopted brother, I actually prefer him dating you rather some skanky Downworlder girl like the ones he used to bring home, but you're clearly new to this concept. It's called not everything lasts. You should keep an eye out for other guys in case Jace was to ever give you the boot. Not that he would, or should for that matter. Clary? Did you hear me?" Isabelle waved her hand in front of Clary's face. The girl shook her hair and continued to stare at her golden boy boyfriend.

Clary's mind was caught up in fantasies of Idris, the magical Shadowhunter homeland. Clary had been there once before and every night she dreamt of the beautiful landscape and city. She pictured herself meeting hundreds of sophisticated Shadowhunters and suddenly hoped that she looked okay. Isabelle had insisted that Clary wear a dress, and Isabelle, being Isabelle, went a little over the top as far as Clary was concerned. Izzy had her dressed up in a black halter-style dress with a gold bow around the center and golden lining on the straps and sides of the dress. Isabelle herself was dressed in a black strapless dress with silver lace along the neckline and bottom of the dress. Clary didn't feel as dressed up when she was standing next to Iz, but the dark haired girl was sure to find a date that evening and leave Clary all on her own.

_Well, not completely alone. I'll have Jace_, Clary thought, soothed and slightly nervous about that prospect. Not nervous about being around Jace, but having to play babysitter to make sure her boyfriend didn't get himself too drunk or go off with another girl or two. Or three. Or four. Jace was certainly capable of all those. After all, he wasn't exactly lacking in the looks department.

Clary was about to go see Jace when Maryse Lightwood opened up the Institute door. A man covered in glitter and sparkles stepped in, covering the floor in glitter dust as he walked. "Hola, darlings! Sorry I'm late, Chairman Meow threw up all over my apartment this morning and I was forced to clean it up. Stupid cat ate some magicked fish last night a Phouka gave him," Magnus said.

Maryse Lightwood nodded at him curtly. "Of course, Mr. Bane. Now, we're running late, so if you please, open the Portal." Magnus nodded at her and after blowing a kiss to his boyfriend Alec Lightwood, he set to opening up the Portal.

_I'm off to Idris again_! Clary's thoughts sang. _And this time, I'm not breaking a law to get there_.

****#****

Will Herondale had never been the patient type. He very much preferred things to run non-stop with little to wait for in between. So patience was not his style. Not at all. So he definitely hated waiting for Henry Branwell to get upstairs so they could deport the Institute for Idris.

They were going to attend the big 'Shadowhunter Family Reunion'. Being from London, Will was familiar with most of the Shadowhunters in Europe and North America because people came and went all the time on business and vacations. He was just excited to be getting out of wet and soggy old England.

Jessamine was to his left, staring at her reflection in a mirror as always. She was wearing a short pink dress that looked to Will as if it would blow off of her as soon as the wind hit her. "Can Henry not just hurry up already? He's probably working on another one of his inventions! Can he not just get up here already? It's not proper to keep a lady waiting!" Jessamine said in frustration. She liked everything to be prim and proper, as if she was living in the 1800's instead of the Twenty-First Century.

"Jessie, calm down. Henry is getting his suit on, for your information. I talked him out of wearing his suspenders and corduroy shorts. Give him a minute to tie his shoes and come up," Charlotte, Henry's wife, scolded Jessamine.

Will snickered and patted Jessamine's blonde head. "Poor, poor Jessie, being made wait. Stop frowning, it's giving you wrinkles," he told her, leaning in close to her face. "Yep, definite wrinkle formation. You'll need more than anti-aging cream to make those things fade once they fully form."

Charlotte whacked Will with a rolled up magazine. "William Herondale! Mind your manners. I would like to remind you to be respectful in Idris and _not_ insult anyone." Will looked down at his feet and walked away from Jessamine and Charlotte.

His best friend, James Carstairs, was standing closest to the Portal and had a brown haired girl in his arms. "It's okay, Tessa. You'll be fine. you're from New York anyway aren't you? You'll be staying there with Magnus Bane, you remember him don't you? He's the High Warlock of Brooklyn, if anyone can ensure your safety there, it's him," Jem said softly.

Tessa nodded and turned to glare at Will when she heard him approach. "Mr. Herondale," she said, giving him a curt nod. Will had no idea why she enjoyed calling him that when most people just called him 'Will' or 'Herondale'. She was formal like that, and she only used that when she was mad at him.

"Why so sour? A few weeks ago, you couldn't wait to get away from us and back to NYC," Will said, standing his ground.

"I still can't wait to get away from you William. You're too cocky adn arrogant for your own good. I feel bad for all of the Shadowhunter's who are going to have to put up with you for the next week," Tessa said, giving him a cold glare.

"Shh, Tess, it's okay. Will's going to leave you alone now and go back to his corner," Jem said, giving Will a look that told him to shut up and do as he was told. Will didn't like orders and was about to comment on that when Henry burst up the stairs, dressed in a black suit and polka dot tie.

"Sorry to keep you all waiting!" he said, running up the Portal and programming it. "Tessa, You're up first. Just close your eyes and step through. Magnus is waiting for you on the other end."

Tess nodded and did as she was told. She gave Jem and Charlotte good-bye hugs and fixed Will with another cold stare. Jessamine was too busy to notice Tessa leaving. Tessa stepped into Portal and Henry waited a few seconds before reprogramming the Portal to take them to Idris. Will took a deep breath and waited for his turn to go through the Portal. He had never been to Idris before.

****#****

"Jace, you're rooming with you cousin William Herondale. Isabelle and Clary, you'll be in the same house as Jace but rooming with Jessamine Lovelace. Alec, you're rooming in the same house and rooming with James Carstairs." Maryse read off. Jace nodded and rolled his eyes, thinking of how stupid it was that he had to room with some relative he didn't even know. He thought the Family Reunion thing itself was a bit mundane.

Maryse ushered them down the street and to the house. Apparently Maryse adn Robert were going to stay with the Penhallow's. Clary's mother Jocelyn had never left Idris since the battle and was staying in Clave housing. The Branwell's of the London Institute would be the adult supervision in the house Jace, Alec, Clary and Izzy were staying in.

The four of them walked to the house adn used their key to open the door. There were instructions on how to use the kitchen appliances on the wall and their rooming arrangement and schedules taped to the door. Jace and William Herondale were on the fourth floor, Clary, Izzy and Jessamine Lovelace on the third, Alec and James Carstairs on the second, and Mr. and Mrs. Branwell on the fifth.

Jace made his way up to the third floor and found a dark haired boy in there. The boy looked up when he walked in. "I guess you're Jonathan Christopher?" he guessed, standing up and brushing his jeans off with hands.

"It's Jace, actually. I guess you're William, then?" Jace asked, noticing that the boy had a British accent. He had a sudden urge to ask William to say a bunch of words so he could hear how they sound in British.

"Yes, I'm Will. If you call me William, I'll stab you with a seraph blade. I call this bed, by the way," Will said in his British accent. He had his stuff spread out across the floor. Jace shrugged and dropped his bags on the other bed. The mattress creaked when he sat on it and he was suddenly enlightened on Will's reasons for taking the other mattress.

"You don't snore do you, William?" Jace asked, using his cousin's full name to piss him off for taking the better bed. The other boy's blue eyes sparked dangerously.

"Hmm, maybe just a _petite peux_, Jonathan Christopher," Will replied nonchalantly, his voice showing none of the emotion in his eyes. _Two can play at that game_, Jace thought. He was the master of nonchalance. This distant cousin of his couldn't beat him.

"Oh, you do? You should really get that breathing problem sorted out, I hear it can affect your demon-hunting. Unless you don't actually hunt demons. Do you prefer staying home and crocheting doilies instead while your _parabati_ does all the work? That's okay with me, I won't judge you. I'm sure the British ladies really enjoy a man who has a knack for crocheting feminine little doilies," Jace taunted, his golden eyes like molten gold. Will's mouth twisted into a frown and a lock of black hair fell into his face. He picked up a dagger off his dresser and threw it at Jace, who danced out of the way with ease.

"You're _so hilarious_. I don't even think you know what a doily is, much less that in England we actually have _factories_ that mass-produce them," Will said, tacking on a laugh at the end. Jace closed his eyes and took a deep breath. _He's my cousin. Maryse and Robert will kill me if I kill and or hurt him. Deep breaths._ Jace barely had time to react when Will lunged at him.

****#****

Jessamine sat primly on her bed, setting up her night table. _The picture of mummy and papa can go here; my stele there, ooh the pink glow of it looks just lovely against the walls; my jewellery box here_. One by one, she set the tings on the dresser, pictures of her parents and her as a baby, her stele (which she spray-painted a pale pink), her jewellery box, her nail polishes, her hairbrush and combs set, her make-up bag, and lastly her favourite gold-framed mirror.

_Just lovely_, she decided, placing her parasol so it leaned against the wall. She had her clothes in the dresser already and made sure that she had chosen the best bed, the king-size one that two of them were meant to share. _Clarissa and Isabelle_ _can just bring a cot up, I'm sure they won't mind_. Jessamine was just about to change into her favourite pink velour tracksuit when the door opened. Two girls stepped in, one with red hair and the other with black.

"Hello," Jessamine said, waving delicately at the two girls. She decided that Isabelle must be the red-head and Clarissa must be the lovely dark-haired girl in the black strapless dress with silver lace along the neckline and bottom of the dress. It looked _gorgeous_ on her.

"Hi! You must be Jessamine_," _the girl she had guessed was Isabelle said. Her voice was a trifle shaky and her eyes looked tired. Jessamine smiled brightly at the girls.

"I'm Isabelle Lightwood," the dark-haired girl said. Jessamine was taken aback. She was _wrong_. How was that even possible. She quickly rearranged her features to be welcoming and open.

"And I'm Clarissa Fray, I mean Fairchild, I mean Morgenstern. Sorry, you can just call me Clary," the red-head introduced herself. _I should've recognised her. Tisk tisk, I'll have to do better later if I'm to find a suitable date. Don't want to call anyone by the wrong names_.

"Oh so you're the girl everyone's talking about. I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding someone to occupy your time tonight, especially since you created that _Alliance_ rune," Jessamine said, smiling. Clary blushed and Isabelle elbowed her in an _I told you so_ gesture.

"I'm glad you think so highly of me, but I already have someone. And he happens to be related to you Izzy, so you're not really allowed to disapprove," Clary said, giving Isabelle a disapproving look. _She must be dating Isabelle's brother Alec. That means that Jonathan Christopher is free_, Jessamine thought, happy with the prospect.

"I guess you took the king-size bed," Isabelle said, looking around the room. There was a single bed in the corner and a small dresser for the two girls from New York to share.

"I'm so sorry. I did see a cot out in the hallway earlier. I'm sure it's comfortable," Jessamine said, feigning innocence. _If they like me, they might introduce me to Mr. Gorgeous-ness himself_.

"Thanks," Clary said sarcastically. She turned on her heel and walked out of the room. Isabelle and Jessamine were left alone and the other girl regarded Jessamine with malice.

"That wasn't a smart move. You do know who her father was, don't you? They are really related, she cold harbour some of his destructive qualities. And I'm from _New York_. Do you seriously think all my stuff is going to fit in that tiny thing? It's so small my _cat_ wouldn't fit in it," Isabelle said maliciously, glaring at Jessamine.

"I'm so very sorry. I didn't mean to inconvenience you. But we could strike a deal if you like. I'd give you the king-size bed and the closet if you were to do me a specific favour," Jessamine said innocently. Isabelle's eyes tightened.

"What do you want?" she asked warily. Her hands landed on her hips and her mouth twisted into a frown.

"You to introduce me to Jonathan Christopher, the one who is rooming upstairs. I want him to be my escort," Jessamine said. Isabelle broke out into a fit of giggles.

"You think he'd actually . . . he'd be your . . . what did you call it? _Escort_?" Isabelle sat on the tiny single bed.

It was Jessamine's turn to frown. This girl didn't think she was good enough? Oh she would _so_ show her.

****#****

Alec hoisted his duffel bag up on his shoulder and knocked on the door. No one answered so he turned the knob and pushed it open. He knew someone was in there because he could hear the sound of violin music through the walls. Just as he suspected, a boy was sitting in the middle of the room playing the violin with undeniable skill. Alec slowly dropped his duffel bag and sat on the bed to listen. The boy was all silver in the witch light, from his sweater to his shoes.

The boy stopped playing and looked up. When he saw Alec, a faint smile lit up his face. "Hello, you must be Alexander, I'm James, but you can call me Jem," the boy said. If Jace could be called the 'golden boy' than Jem certainly deserved the title of the 'silver boy'.

"Yes I am, but you can call me Alec. Whenever someone calls me Alexander it reminds me of my grandmother, and she used to pinch my cheeks and slap them," Alec said, aware that he was babbling and furious with himself.

Jem smiled at him and put down the violin. "You can chose whatever bed you want, I think they're equally terrible. We got stuck with the creaky beds," Jem said. Alec looked at where the boy had placed his things in a corner.

"Okay, well the bed I'm on right now is fine," Alec said, not being particularly picky. Jem gave him a white smile. As in, the boy's teeth were incredibly white.

"Sounds good. I think we'll get along great. I was just upstairs checking on will because I heard a lot of slamming and found him lying on the ground with Jonathan Christopher's foot on his chest and the girls all bickering over Jessie taking the king-size bed. I've always been the most agreeable of the three of us, mind you. I'm just glad that I can have confidence that you won't be tempted to kill me in your sleep. Will can be a bit of an idiot at times and Jessie is just straight-up self-absorbed," Jem explained.

Alec smirked at what he heard. "Jace is an idiot too. He and Will deserve to be in the same room. And Isabelle, my sister, sounds a lot like this Jessie. Poor Clary just has to put up with them," Alec laughed.

Jem smiled again and Alec couldn't help but think that he definitely ended up with the best roommate. Agreeable, non-temperamental, and not self-obsessed.

****#****

Maryse and Robert Lightwood sat in the parlour of the house they were staying in. Jocelyn was in the kitchen making coffee for them. Maryse couldn't help but wonder how her children and Clary were making out, but pushed the thought to the back of her mind. _They'll be fine, they're all almost adults now and they have the Branwell's to supervise them._ Maryse didn't realize how wrong she really was.

**Ta-da! So there you have it. The pilot chapter of _Shadowhunter Reunion_. I promise that Simon and Magnus and Tessa will come into the story soon. So, review! If I get hmmm, lets say 5 REVIEWS I'll post the next chapter. For an excerpt of the next chapter whoever answers this questions will be sent one: WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE The Mortal Instruments/The Infernal Devices COUPLE?**

**P.S To all of the readers of my story RESURFACING I am NOT discontinuing it. I am going to post the next chapter sometime soon, the only problem is that I've got a slight case of writers block. Hopefully if I continue taking my medicine (a.k.a working on other stories) I should be recovered by sometime early this week and have a spectacular DATE chapter out for you!**

**XOXO,**

**TC95**


	2. Dinner Disaster

**Heyy! Here is the hopefully not to long awaited Chapter 2 of **_**Shadowhunter Reunion**_**. This chapter was really fun to write. I apologise for the wait and hope the awesomeness of this chapter makes up for it. I'm also sorry for any confusion with the Author's note I posted earlier. I wanted to let y'all know that I'm still working on this story. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nil. **

**Chapter Songs:**

*******_**Give You Up **_**- Stereos (Clary's PoV, aka first scene)**

*******_**Better Than Revenge**_**- Taylor Swift (Will's PoV, aka second scene)**

*******_**Sky's The Limit-**_** Jason DeR****ü****lo (Tessa PoV, aka third scene)**

*******_**Smile**_**- Lily Allen (Jace PoV, aka fourth scene)**

2. Dinner Disaster

Idris

"She wants what?" Clary asked incredulously, staring at Isabelle with her green eyes wide open.

"I'll repeat this for the last time Clary," Isabelle said with exaggerated patience. "Jessamine likes Jace. She knows you're with Jace. She wants him anyway. She told me that if I introduce her to Jace and they hit it off, we can have both beds and the big dresser. So really, if we just tell Jace to _pretend_ to like her and then dump her once she gives us the beds and dresser, she won't really be stealing your boyfriend. _Capito_?"

Clary sighed and collapsed onto the cot she dragged up from the basement. Stupid Jessamine and her stupid prissy-ness and her stupid looks. "You know that she only put the big bed on the line because she thinks that she'll be sleeping in _Jace's_ every night?" she asked Isabelle, trying not to show her total frustration.

Isabelle let out her breath until her lungs started screaming. Clary was for sure her best friend until the end of the universe, but sometimes Clary could be so _innocent_. "Jace isn't going to invite her to bed. He's going to entertain her for one night and then he's going to push her into the fountain in Angel Square. There'll be no smoochy-smoochy or any kind of physical touching except _maybe_ holding hands, and even that is pushing it. I swear on the Angel, Clarissa, I am not saying this to get between you and Jace. I hate Princess Jessamine as much as you do."

"Iz, as much as I want to believe you, I wouldn't put it past that _seductress_ to try. Here, let me put this in perspective for you. Let's say that, hmm, right now for example, you go away and Simon is left in New York all by his lonesome and Maia comes over to his house. Would you want her there with him while you're gone? Be honest with me Isabelle, what does Simon do when you're gone?" Clary asked Isabelle.

Iz had to think a moment about that. "Well, whenever _I_ ask him that, he says that he spends the time thinking about me and bragging about me to his band mates, but _I_ think that he spends most of it on his house watching reruns of _CSI_ and _Grey's Anatomy_ on the TV. Oh and I _think_ he watches _Gossip Girl_ sometimes, but I can't get him to admit it."

Clary stifled a giggle. Simon _did_ watch _Gossip Girl_ and he was the one who got her into watching _The Vampire Diaries_. Apparently it was the only vampire show he could watch without feeling the need to throw up because they actually got the fangs right. "And now let's say that Maia knocks on his door and asks if he wants to hang out. Immediately all thoughts of you fly out of his mind and you're forgotten because there's a pretty girl in front of him and you're not around to give him his female company fix. Can you see why I'm so against leaving Jessamine with Jace?" Clary asked. She decided to keep the _Vampire Diaries _and _Gossip Girl_ thing to herself. It would make good bait to bribe him with.

Izzy glared at the red-headed Shadowhunter across from her. How dare she suggest that her boyfriend was hanging out with that werewolf. "I get what you're trying to say Clary, but Jace is good at the one night stand thing. Before you came along he had a new one every night. I'm pretty sure that you can trust him to stay loyal. That boy would put his life on the line for you. He _loves_ you. There is no way in hell Jessamine can break that apart. You guys are indestructible, nothing can pull you apart—"

"They said the same thing about the _Titanic_, but that iceberg took care of the unsinkable ship pretty quickly," Clary cut Isabelle off.

"Yeah, yeah and Leonardo di Caprio dies at the end, I know the story. The Ice Princess can't pull you two apart, though. You're like Romeo and Juliet, no screw that they both died at the end, you're like Darcy and Elizabeth, John and Sav—nevermind. Well, you know what I mean. You do, don't you?" Isabelle looked Clary in the eyes and saw the defiance written across them in black Sharpie. _Angel, she's so stubborn!_ Isabelle thought.

****#****

Will adjusted his black t-shirt so it didn't look like he'd just gotten run over by a double-decker bus. He had a nice blood-moustache from when Jace had smashed his face into the bedpost. Thankfully his nose wasn't broken, and the dried blood would come off with a little water. Will took a deep breath and splashed his face with water from the wash basin.

He had whole room to himself now that his cousin had decided to go for a walk to cool off and get his act together for the dinner that night.

_How the hell did that idiot manage to surprise me like that?_ ran through Will's mind. No one _ever_ got the better of him. Ever. He was Will Herondale, Shadowhunter supreme. The fact that his loser cousin beating him was pissing him off.

_Of course, Jonathan isn't normal_, his mind reminded him. _Valentine just so happened to genetically alter him, so really it makes total sense that he beat the crap out of you._

Will inwardly glared at the voice. Sometimes, like now for instance, it was right, no matter how wrong he wished it to be. Will wished his cousin hadn't taken him down to quickly, hadn't been able to overpower him so quickly.

Will turned off the tap and pulled his bloody shirt off. He loved that shirt and was pissed that his cousin had the nerve to bloody it. _I should've shredded his leather jacket while I had the chance_, Will thought to himself, thinking about the two minute window he had where Jace went to the washroom to calm himself down. _In the mundane world, that child would've been in anger management classes_.

Will could hear a knock at the door of his room. He slipped on a clean dress-shirt and walked over to it, opening it to reveal a pretty red-haired girl in a black dress. She eyed him nervously, biting her lip. _Hello gorgeous_, he thought.

"Hi, I'm Will Herondale. How can I be of assistance to you?" he asked, putting on his best smile.

The girl flushed a pretty shade of pink. "Hello, I'm Clary Fray-Fairchild-Morgenstern. I go by all those last names. I'm looking for my boyfri—Jace. I'm looking for Jace. Is he here?" Clary took a peek inside Will's room, as if searching for his stupid cousin.

_Hmm, so this is Jace's girlfriend? She probably means more to him than his leather jacket_, Will thought. He plastered a sensual smile on his face. "Well, hello, Miss Clary. I have heard _so_ much about you. Jace just stepped out for a minute, why don't you come in and wait for him here."

Clary nodded nervously. "Your room is a mess!" she exclaimed, taking in the disarranged furniture and half-made beds. "Jace is going to go O.C.D when he sees this!"

Will laughed inwardly. Jace, a neat freak. Who'd a thought? "Great. I'm looking forward to that."

Clary leaned forward and squinted at his face. "Sorry, this is probably really random, but is that _blood_ on your chin?" she asked.

Will had to give the girl a hand, she noticed _everything_. "Yes, I'm afraid it is. I tried to clean it off earlier, but it seems I've missed some." He could hear footsteps coming up the stairs and would bet his last seraph blade that it was his dear cousin.

Clary gave a little laugh. "I can give you a hand. Do you have a cloth or something?"

Will reached over and grabbed a wash cloth off of the floor. He had attempted to strangle Jace with it earlier. Not that he would tell Clary that.

Clary grabbed it off him and leaned in, placing the cloth to his chin, her lips mere centimetres from his. Will leaned in as he heard Jace's footsteps reach their floor. Clary looked startled and dropped the cloth, pushing Will away. Will fell onto the floor with a thump as Jace opened the door.

Surprise flooded over his cousin's face. "Clary? What are you doing up here?" Clary spun around, face going beet red. Will felt a smirk crawl across his face.

"Jace! I was looking for you—Izzy and I need to talk to you about something! I was looking for you and then you weren't here and I got to meet your cousin Will and now you're here!" she babbled, spinning towards Jace.

"Okay, Clary. Why don't we leave Will to his strange meditations on the floor and you can tell me what's so important," Jace smirked at Will, who was now sitting cross-legged on the floor and glaring at the oh-so-cute-couple.

Jace led Clary out of the room, leaving Will on his own. _Damn you_, Will thought.

New York 

New York was exactly like Tessa remembered it. Busy, bustling, and bursting with energy. Even at two in the morning, the city buzzed with life.

Tessa stood by the huge bay window in Magnus Bane's apartment. Magnus had left for a minute to go do 'warlock stuff' and had told her to watch his cat, Chairman Meow. However, to Tessa, Chairman Meow was more of a mouse than a cat. Maybe he was part hamster.

The cat was cleaning himself on the couch, so Tessa had gotten up to give the cat some privacy. Tired of looking out the window and longing to hear Aunt Harriet call her name and tell her it was time for dinner, Tessa began to wander the main floor of Magnus's apartment. It was much larger than the one Aunt Harriet had owned, but Magnus had been alive when the stock markets first opened, so that was to be expected. He probably had stock in oil and brought in hundreds of dollars a year just off of that.

You could tell Magnus was a world traveller just by looking at his living room. There were Greek sculptures in the corners, a totem pole with a lamp balancing on the top beside one of the couches, and all manners of Parisian and Italian paintings lining the walls. But what Tessa thought was the most impressive was the bookcases that lined the walls of his study. Books on everything from cooking, to novels, modern and older, stood on the shelves. All of Tessa's all-time favourites were there, some even the original copies.

Tessa gently picked up the frail copy of _Pride and Prejudice_ and cradled it in her arms. Jane Austen's signature was on the inside of the front cover, with the words_ Signed for the wonderful Magnus Bane_ written beside the signature.

"Beautiful collection, isn't it?" a voice asked, and Tessa spun around, letting out a little shriek and almost dropping the book.

"Magnus you scared me!" Tessa scolded him, clutching one hand over her heart.

"Sorry, sweetheart. We have company, come and mingle," Magnus ordered, not sounding sorry at all.

Tessa put the book back on the shelf and walked back to the living room. Sitting on the couches were a boy and girl she had never met before in her life. The boy had dark hair that fell over his eyes and pale skin. Tessa was almost certain he was a vampire. The girl, on the other hand, had skin the colour of caramel, and brown curly hair.

"Tessa, meet Simon and Maia," Magnus waved his hand back and forth between them.

"Hi," Tessa said, holding her hand out for Simon to shake. He took her hand in his; it was unnaturally cold, but Tessa had expected that. Maia, _d'autre part_, had a warm hand. Tessa was still trying to figure out how Maia fit in here.

"So, you're the unmarked warlock girl?" Maia asked, a smile on her face.

"I guess. Is that what everyone's referring to me as?" Tessa replied.

"Yeah. Get used to it; the nickname is the easy-to-stand part. The hard part is when they start thinking of you as a _thing_ instead of a real person," Simon warned.

Confused, Tessa gave Simon a look. "I'm sorry, but how would you know?"

"I'm the vampire oddity, the Daylighter. It's okay, I'm actually kind of glad the news of me hasn't made it to Europe quite yet," Simon said in response to Tessa's apologetic look.

"Oh shut up, Simon, we all know you like the attention. That's why you're dating _Isabelle Lightwood_," Maia sneered, a frown crossing her face. _Jealous ex-girlfriend_, Tessa wondered.

Then Tessa replayed Maia's words in her head. "Wait—did you say _Lightwood_? As in Gabriel's cousin?" Tessa asked. Now it was Simon's turn to look confused. Tessa couldn't help but notice how young he looked with that expression on his face.

"Um, sure. I have no idea who Gabriel is, though. But I don't the last name Lightwood is very common, so I guess ." Simon answered.

"Anyone for coffee?" Magnus asked. He had been so silent, Tessa didn't even realize he was there.

"Yes! Thank you, I was waiting for you to offer! I'll take an iced cappuccino, chocolate flavoured," Maia exclaimed.

"I'll take my cold and red," Simon ordered, a smirk on his face. It wasn't as great a smirk as Will's, but it was a smirk nonetheless.

"Do you have tea? Something herbal?" Tessa inquired. She had never liked coffee very much.

"I can get you whatever flavour you like, sweet. Whether I have it or not isn't a problem. How does Apple Cinnamon sound?" Magnus smiled.

"Good, thank you," Tessa said politely. Her aunt had always taught her and Nate to use their manners, no matter what.

Magnus whispered a few words into the air and four cups appeared on the table. "How's that for service?" he asked rhetorically.

Tessa picked up her tea and blew on it, watching the steam dance. Maia was already drinking her iced drink, and Simon had picked up his, er . . . blood, and was all but chugging it.

Idris

Jace sat at the bottom of the table, squished in between two Shadowhunters he had never met before. They were both in their fifties, and they were the same shape as party balloons. The rest of the Lightwood's and Clary were at the head of the table, talking and laughing about something he couldn't hear.

"How do you like you seat, cousin?" a voice asked him. Jace turned his head to see his arrogant ass-of-a-cousin, Will, sitting on the other side of the balloon-lady.

"It's just lovely, William. How are you liking yours?" Jace asked conversationally.

"I'm liking mine very much, Jonathan Christopher. Very much indeed. The only thing that would make it more lovely would be if this _thing_—" Will elbowed the fat lady, "—left to go fix her wig." He proceeded to rip the bloated woman's wig from her head. She let out a little screech and whacked Will across the face with her purse, leaving an angry red mark on his cheek.

Jace all but fell over laughing. "Picking on large ladies now, are we William? You know, when you're her age and look like that, I think I'll have fun ripping your wig off," Jace scoffed, watching his cousin's face go even redder.

"On the contrary, Jonathan Christopher, _I_ will have _more_ fun when _you_ look like that. I have a very good metabolism," Will countered. The man on the other side of Jace glared at them.

"Sorry, sir. I'm trying to teach my cousin some manners. We only house trained him last week, and as you can see, his manners are taking slightly longer to get up to par," Jace told the man, who chuckled.

"You make me sound like a dog, dearest cousin. I prefer to think of myself as more of a tiger," Will said, miming a cat claw and purring.

"Oh, Angel. Sorry, sir. He seems to be having an identity crisis now. Don't mind me, the doctor told me that if he starts having one, I should slap him and it will all be fine. It worked last time, I think," Jace said pleasantly. The man nodded, as if he believed every word Jace was saying. Jace took the opportunity to reach over and pick up the fat lady's full water bottle. He unscrewed the cap a bit, and chucked it at Will's head. The bottle cap flew off and the contents of the bottle spilled all over Will.

"You idiot!" Will exclaimed, clearly enraged. His accent, mixed with his anger, distorted the word, and this time, Jace _did_ fall over laughing.

"Oh, William. Please stop, you're hilarious," Jace said between laughs. The man beside Jace was laughing, too, and a couple a little ways down were pointing at Will and laughing.

"I'm very sorry to interrupt your dinner, Mr. Herondale, but you might want to get cleaned up for desert," a blonde lady who was sitting on Will's other side told him.

"I think I'll do that. Speaking of cleaning up, I think you should join me Jonathan Christopher. You're a mess." Will picked up the fat lady's wine glass and attempted to throw it at Jace. He misjudged the distance, and instead of hitting Jace, the full glass hit the balloon-man right in the middle of his face.

The man, more muscle than flab, stood up and glared at Will. "I'm really sorry, sir. Really. I didn't mean to hit you," Will spewed, sounding like a private-school boy who was caught throwing food in the cafeteria.

Jace had managed to sit up, and decided to see how far he could push the man before he punched Will in the face. "Now, now. William, that wasn't very nice. Your psychologist specifically told you not to throw things at people. it wasn't very nice of you to call the man names either. I don't think that 'fat-ass' is a very polite term."

The man's face went red. "I'm a professional weight lifter, you little bastard," the man spat at Will.

"By the Angel, sir I—I didn't mean it that way, I swear. I just meant that when you're sitting down, all of your muscles look a little like fat. I didn't—"

Will didn't get to finish his sentence. The man took a swing at him and hit Will right on the side of the face. _Ouch, that must hurt_, Jace thought. He didn't move to help his cousin up. Instead, he turned to the man.

"Sir, given my cousin's condition, I don't think that you should be demonstrating violence to him. He's very impressionable right now, and if people keep doing violent things to him, he might turn out to be a murder or assassin. Would you see him to the bathroom for me? He has a little bladder problem too, and since you're headed that way . . ." Jace trailed off.

"Well, of course I can. I'm sorry you have to live with him," the man said, lifting up the disoriented Will. They made their way over to where the bathroom's were located.

Jace smiled to himself and took a bite of the chicken his was served. It tasted like crap, but any food was fine with him at this point in time. He couldn't help but wonder why they had seated him at the end of the table, furthest away from his family, and why Will was placed there with him.

A blonde girl made her way down the table. Jace didn't recognize her, but she vaguely reminded him of Isabelle. She was wearing a tight-fitting pink bubble dress that showed off all of her curves, and her hair was in perfect ringlets.

"Hi, Jonathan. I'm Jessamine," the girl said, sitting in the man's spot.

"Oh, hi." Clary had warned him about Jessamine. Apparently the plan was for him to flirt with her and then, after she gave up the bed and dresser to Clary and Isabelle, to dump her like yesterday's newspaper.

"Hi, so I saw you get that man to beat up Will. That's pretty impressive," the girl, Jessamine leaned over so their faces were almost touching.

"It was easy. William is remarkably easy to piss off," Jace said, lifting his hand to move her bangs off her face.

Jessamine giggled. "Do they call you Jonathan, or John, or J.C . . ." Jessamine trailed off, running her finger down his nose. Jace resisted the urge to slap her and tell her that he had a girlfriend.

"They call me . . . Jace," he said, adding the pause for effect.

"I like the sound of that, it's . . . sexy. Like you," Jessamine commented flirtatiously.

"Why thank you. What do you say we got somewhere else? This table is pretty stuffy. I know this great place where we can sit and talk, or do whatever," Jace said, forcing the words out. It felt so wrong to be flirting with someone else.

"Sounds good. Lead the way," Jessamine purred.

Jace stood up and took her hand in his. They were much softer than Clary's, even though Jessamine had probably been demon hunting longer. Years of painting and sketching had made Clary's rough. Not that he minded one bit. He began leading Jessamine towards the fountain in the middle of the square. He gave Clary and Isabelle thumbs up behind his back.

He could see the anticipation of winning on both Clary and Isabelle's faces. _Plan in effect_, he thought to himself. Beside him, Jessamine let out another little-girl giggle.

**So-o-o, what do you think? Pretty good? Funny, too serious, too cheesy, too OOC, tell me what you think! Reviewers get excerpts! No matter what!**

**xoxoxo**

**FireandIce95**


	3. Tonight

**Heyy aren't you all lucky? Two updates in arrow for this story. Well not really in row, because I've been a little MIA but hopefully this chapter will make up for it. I'm going to make this note short and sweet. So, enjoy!**

**Chapter Songs:**

*******_**Tonight**_**- West Side Story**

*******_**Unfaithful**_**- Rihanna**

*******_**I Dreamed a Dream**_**- Les Mis**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

3. Tonight

_Tonight, tonight_

_It all began tonight_

_I saw you and the world went away_

_Tonight, tonight_

_It's only you tonight_

_What you are, what you do, what you say_

—_Tonight_, West Side Story

Idris

Jessamine laid her head on Jace's shoulder, thinking: _Angel, my head fits perfectly here_. She shifted when he nudged her.

"Jessamine," his so-damn-sexy voice whispered. "Jessamine?"

She snuggled into his chest, resting her hand on his cheek.

"Yeah?" she whispered slowly, her voice husky.

"I have to go to the bathroom," Jace whispered in her ear, lifting his shoulder again.

Jessamine all but purred. "Okay, baby. Come back soon. I'll be waiting."

##&##

Jace had to steady himself using the sink. _By the Angel, I don't know how much more of this I can take_, he thought. Jessamine had done nothing but sit on him and giggle the whole hour he had sat with her. He was starving, because she ruined his dinner by 'visiting', and he was pissed because Clary was probably off with Isabelle having fun without him.

_That had better be a great bed_, he thought to himself. He turned the tap on and let the cold water run over his hands, bringing him back to reality. He had gone to the bathroom to both escape the boring Jessamine, and also so that he could pull his act together. He had no idea what the hell he was supposed to do.

Clary had specifically told him no kissing, no touching other than holding hands, and no wedding proposals. The last requirement was easy; Jace wasn't quite ready to relinquish his unmarried status, especially to some British Shadowhunter who was unable to say anything but 'Uh-huh,' 'Yeah, baby,' and 'You can kiss me if you want to'.

It was the first two that troubled him. Not that he actually _wanted_ to kiss or touch any part of Jessamine, but the whole concept of 'seduction', or as Clary called it 'kissing up, minus the kissing', usually involved a little more than holding hands and giving the other person hopefully-meaningful looks. But Clary was very specific in her instructions: No falling for Jessamine Lovelace; No inviting Jessamine to bed; No kissing Jessamine; No giving Jessamine pet names; No thinking about Jessamine, other than how disgusting she is; No touching any part of Jessamine except for her hand.

No, no, no, no, no, no.

I splashed a handful of water on my face. I was being an idiot. This was a foolproof plan; there was no way I could mess it up. Well, unless I was to fall in love with Jessamine and elope. But that wasn't likely to happen.

##&##

_Note to self: Don't piss off muscular fat guys_. Will sat on his bed, holding an ice pack to his cheek, which was purpling from the impact of the fat-muscle-man's fist on his face. _Jace needs to die_, Will thought murderously. _Or at least have his face messed up. Preferably by his feisty little girlfriend_. Will shook his head at the thought, knowing it was impossible.

He lashed his foot out and kicked Jace's bedpost. _Dammit_, he swore, pain surging up with leg. _Damn him. Damn her. Damn Tessa._ Will's pent up anger flowed through him. Nothing was going right. As much as he pretended to be all fine and untouchable, he was angry, pissed, and spiteful.

Will Herondale was _not_ one to throw a toddler-esque temper tantrum. But revenge, sweet revenge, that was more his thing. And the only thing that Will's cousin actually cared about was his little girlfriend. _I've got two options_, Will thought, _I can either attempt to hold her hostage and get my ass kicked by my cousin again, or I can just take the easier route and flirt with her. I like the second option_.

New York

Simon sat on the couch, Maia on his one side and the new girl, Tessa, on the other. Maia was content with just glaring off into space, so Simon decided that this was the perfect chance for him to get to know Tessa a little better.

"So, how do you like New York?" Simon asked conversationally. Tessa looked startled by his question and placed her tea down on the coffee table.

"Umm, good. I used to live here. Actually, the apartment I lived in is just around the block from here. My aunt . . . died a few months ago and I moved to England thinking that my older brother actually meant what he said about taking care of me. Turns out I went there only to be used and taken into Shadowhunter housing. Hey, you're a vampire; how are you so close to the Shadowhunters? Other than the fact that Isabelle Lightwood is your girlfriend? Sorry if that's a really intrusive question." Tessa asked, her face flushing slightly.

_Oh, she was born here. That's why she lacks a British accent. _"Oh, it's no problem. I'm a fairly new vampire, I was only . . . well, _changed_, _turned_, whatever word you want to use, a few months ago. It's a really long story, but long story short my best friend is a Shadowhunter, but she didn't know until a couple of months ago. Her mother was married to Valentine, and she's his daughter. So . . . yeah. We've been best friends for forever, and I just happened to get dragged into this." Simon couldn't help the bitter tone that entered his voice when he was talking about Clary.

"Valentine?" Tessa asked, confusion colouring her tone.

"He's a scary-ass man who thinks we—Downworlders—are evil and need to be eradicated. He died. End of story." Maia interjected her tone angry.

Tessa held her hands up in the international symbol for _I surrender_. "Sorry, I'm really new to all of this. In England, our 'evil' is a man named the 'Magister', a.k.a Axel Mortmain."

The name rang a bell in Simon's head. "You don't know a vampire named Camille by any chance, do you?" Simon asked, trying to piece together the puzzle.

To his surprise, Tessa laughed. "Yes, I know her," she said, in a voice that implied that she knew her fairly well.

"_Well_?" Simon pried.

"I have met her, had a conversation with her, been in her shoes, and gotten her kicked out of London's vampire society," Tessa clarified, looking mildly embarrassed.

"So you know her well. Apparently she's the head of the vampires here in New York, and they all talk about her like she's the new Queen Elizabeth, but I've actually never met her." Simon said.

"Well, I'm sure she'll be back very soon. They're practically putting up WANTED posters in London with her face on them. She's . . . different. Kind of cold, but that just might be the whole 'vampire' thing . . ." Tessa paused for a minute, then went bright red when she realized who she was talking to. "Oh—no! I didn't mean it like that, I'm so sorry. I'm sure you're a very warm and friendly person!"

Simon had to laugh at her horrified expression. "Don't worry about it, Tessa. I'm probably as nice as they get."

Tessa smiled a little, and Maia rolled her eyes. "You've got a girlfriend, stop flirting," Maia spat cruelly.

"Just because I'm smiling and looking happy, doesn't mean I'm flirting. I smile when I talk to you all the time, it doesn't mean I like you _that_ way," Simon shot back.

Tessa looked uncomfortable sitting on the couch, and Simon knew the exact reason. "Don't mind Miss Maia over here, it's her time of the month," Simon joked, and Tessa cracked a smile.

"Just you wait, Simon Lewis. I bet you any amount of money that your precious girlfriend is all over some guy in Idris," Maia said darkly.

Idris

Jem walked around Angle Square, hands shoved into the pockets of his dress pants. He had never actually been to Idris before and his fingers were crossed that he wouldn't get lost. He was carrying a little satchel with him with his 'medicine' in it, in case he had an 'attack'. But he was fine for the moment.

Music was being played by a band he had never heard of, and couples were either dancing or sitting on one of the many benches in the square. Jem walked along the edges, feeling a strange urge to have Tessa at his side. Being what she was, the likeliness of the Branwell's being authorized to bring Tessa into Idris was very low. She was a 'threat to security', apparently. Jem seriously doubted that Tessa had it in her to go and steal from the Clave.

A warm hand grabbed Jem by the shoulder and spun him around. He went into defensive mode; ready to lash out at whoever was attacking him.

His attacker turned out to be Will, who had a large bruise on one cheek. "Nice face," he commented, lightly poking the purpling area of the other boy's face.

"Ouch! Would you cut that out!" Will said, clumsily swatting at Jem's hand.

"Who'd you pick a fight with this time, Will?" Jem asked.

"Some guy at the dinner table—but that doesn't matter right now. I need your . . . uh . . . help," Will said. Jem could tell that asking for help was a big step for Will, so he decided to hear his friend out.

"My help with what, Will?" Jem asked curiously. Will _never_ wanted help with anything.

"I need to get back at my cousin. I want to go talk to his girlfriend," Will said slowly, looking around to make sure no one was paying attention. "She's different from other girls; more strong-willed and power."

"So you mean she's more like Tessa than Jessamine?" Jem replied, trying to get a feel for what Will wanted to do.

"Yes. But again, you're off topic. Focus Jem, I need your help, not for you to moon over the girl you sent to New York. I _need_ to talk to Clary," Will stressed.

_Clary? As in Clarissa Morgenstern?_ "Whoa, Will, back up for a second. Your cousin's girlfriend is _Clarissa Morgenstern?_" Jem asked incredulously.

"Um, yeah. I guess. Anyway, Jem, so the thing is, I can't get near her because she has—get this—Isabelle Lightwood as her bodyguard. Well, not really, but almost. Anyway, Isabelle's as stuck-up as Gabriel, but the Lightwood's seem to have a soft-spot for you, so I was thinking you could distract her while I go talk to Clary." Will seemed to think his plan was foolproof.

Jem shook his head. "There is no way in hell that I am going to seduce Isabelle _Lightwood_ so you can get Clary _Morgenstern_ in a corner. I'm rooming with Isabelle's brother!"

"Jem, Jem. That's why I came to _you_ for help. By the Angel, I could've asked Jessamine to help me. But no. I chose you. And here's why," Will leaned closer to Jem and began to whisper, "I need you to tell Isabelle that Alec is in trouble—that he's having an allergic reaction to some plant and he won't let you put an _iratze_ on him or something—so Isabelle will leave Clary alone with you. Then, you will leave and I'll have Clary to myself. Easy."

If Jem didn't know Will, he'd have thought that the plan would be as easy as the other boy made it seem. But Will Herondale's plans rarely worked out. _Still_, Jem thought_, maybe I can find a more conventional way for Will to talk to Clary—Clary Morgenstern, the reason that Downworlders and most Shadowhunters are still alive—when I see them_. "Fine, Will. I'll help you with your plan. But if it gets screwed up, _you're_ taking full blame for it."

Will's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Good. I thought you would need some more convincing, but . . . Wow. My genius is finally being recognized after all these years. Wow. Umm, okay then, let's go see her." Will looked shocked.

"Let's go," Jem agreed, letting the shocked Will lead him towards the red-haired 'Shadowhunter Saviour'.

##&##

Charlotte sat on the stairs to their 'house' in Idris, biting her nails. It was a horrible habit, but she couldn't help but worry about Will and Jem and Jessamine. As much as they were pains in the ass, they were like her children and she didn't want them to get into trouble or get hurt. Especially Will. She wasn't really worried about Jem, unless he had one of his attacks, and Jessamine was most likely to be huddled up in a corner, waiting until she could go back to London.

Will was bound to get in trouble. There was no doubt about it. He managed to find trouble wherever he went, and having his distant cousin in the same town as him was probably not a good idea. Charlotte also felt guilty about dinner. Will was stuck at the bottom of the table because there were no adult Shadowhunters in his family line. If there were, Will and Jonathan Christopher would be near the very head of the table, based on family importance. The Herondale's were the closest family to the original Shadowhunter, Jonathan Shadowhunter. They all bore the mark of the Angel.

Charlotte was waiting for her husband and the Lightwood's to come out of the house. Henry had accidentally spilled some wine on his dress shirt while talking to a lady about the ways to improve Seraph blades. Red wine stains. The Lightwoods were meeting Charlotte and Henry at the house Charlotte and her husband were staying at. Without cars, travel in Idris was a little slower.

"Henry? Are you okay in there?" Charlotte called, having heard a loud thump.

"Yes, yes dear! I'm fine. The lamp fell, but don't worry— I'll fix it!" Henry replied.

_Oh, dear_, Charlotte thought. _This could be a long week. _

ooO*&*Ooo

"We strike in New York tomorrow?"

"Of course, Mr . . ."

"Call me, A, please."

"Then you can call me J."

"Are you sure you're ready for this? You know those people."

"And that's why I hate them. Hell yeah, I'm ready."

"Mr. Mort—I mean, _A_, the portal is ready."

"Thank you, N. Please show J to his chambers so he can get ready for the attack tomorrow."

"Yes, A. Would you like me to join you tomorrow on your little trip in to New York?"

"Only if you can handle _her_ being there. Which I'm sure you can. Right, N?"

"Of course I can, A."

"Whoa, wait a second. Who's _her_?"

"No one you'd know. _Asshole_."

"Language, N. Be nice to our guests."

"Yes, sir. Come with me, J, I'll show you to your chambers. _I hope you sleep with one eye open_."

"I always do, N. Thanks for the warning."

"Idiots! Just hurry up and leave! We strike at nine!"

"Yes, sir."

New York

"Are you staying here too, Simon?"

Simon blinked a few times before realizing Tessa was speaking to him. Her lovely brown eyes were looking at him with concern. "Oh, yes. I thought you'd like some company."

"But Magnus will be here, won't he?"

Simon shook his head, both to clear his head of thoughts about how pretty Tessa really was and to say _no_. "He has some 'High Warlock Business' to attend to. He wants me to feed his cat."

Tessa laughed, and her eyes lit up. "His cat is more of a mouse. It probably eats next to nothing."

Her laughter was contagious. "Actually, it's a pretty fat little thing."

"Simon . . . can I ask you for some advice?" Tessa asked, biting her lip.

"Sure. I can try to help."

Tessa took a deep breath, her pretty eyes becoming sad. _I'd do anything to make her happy_, Simon realized.

"Do, do you think you can love more than one person at once?" Tessa asked.

Simon closed his eyes. "I'd like to think so. I'd like to think I never need to choose between the people I love."

Tessa looked at her feet. She was wearing a pair of purple silk pyjamas and a pair of little purple moccasins. "That's what I thought. Do you know who you want to choose?"

"I have no idea. In my head, I like to pretend I can love both of them equally forever. You?"

Tessa shook her head. "No. One is really sweet and kind and loving, but we have almost too much in common. And the other, well he's a jerk. A player. But he's mysterious and can be sweet. I don't know. I just wish, for one night, I could only love one person. I wouldn't spend the whole night tossing and turning, trying to decide which one."

Simon realized how much they had in common. "Me, too. Maybe, we can help each other."

"I'd like that. Come sit with me," Tessa said, smiling a little.

Simon got up and sat on the couch next to Tessa. She laid her warm head on his chest. He could feel her heart beating.

"This is going to sound stupid, Simon. But maybe, just for one night, I could pretend that it's you."

Idris

Jessamine was lying her head on Jace's chest again. "You know what I want to do?" Jessamine asked.

"What do you want to do?" Jace asked, his voice deep, sensuous.

_Is he falling for her? I need to get closer!_ Clary thought.

"Clary? I asked if you want to get a drink?"

_Shoot, Isabelle._

"Umm, yeah. Can you go get me one? I need to sit down for a minute. My ankle's a little sore. I think I might've sprained it walking in these shoes." In all truthfulness, the heels were only two inches high, but Clary wanted to get a better view of Jace and Jessamine.

"Sure, Clary. I'll get you one. Fruit punch or pop?"

"I'll have some of the fruit punch. I heard a few people talking about how great it is." Clary said.

"Yeah, that's what I'm getting. I'll be back in a minute." With that, Isabelle left, walking so easily in her high heels.

Clary sat on the bench closest to where Jace and Jessamine were sitting. She was so intent on watching them that she didn't even realize someone was walking towards her.

"Hey, Clary."

She jumped. "Oh, it's you. Hi Will. You look better now." She shot a look in Jace's direction to make sure he wasn't doing anything with Jessamine. Nope. They were just sitting there.

"Yeah, I clean up good."

"I was being sarcastic. How'd you get that bruise?"

"I called a muscular guy fat. It was an accident." Will had enough dignity to flush a little at the statement.

"That's funny. I've done that before, too. But since I'm a girl, and I was going to buy something from his shop, he didn't actually hit me."

"Cool. So, I was wondering if you want to dance?" Will asked, his voice even.

Clary looked over at Jace. No action over there. "Yeah, sure. I'd love to. We just have to stay over here. Isabelle went to get me a drink."

Will smiled. "Oh, Isabelle had to go see Alec. He had an allergic reaction to a plant in the Square."

"Poor Alec. I'd still like to stay around here, just in case she comes back." Clary said.

"Of course." Will said. They stood up and began swaying back and forth, Clary keeping her eye on Jace.

Nothing was happening. They were just whispering. And getting closer . . .

Closer . . .

Closer . . .

Until their lips met.

Rage boiled up inside Clary. _He promised_.

Will leaned in closer to Clary. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, gritting her teeth.

Will looked her right in the eye. "Clary, can I . . ." He leaned down until their lips met, and Clary nodded in compliance.

_Take that, jerk_.

**So, review for me? Pleases and Thank you's. All reviews will get excerpts of the next chapter! I'll post the next chapter soon!**

**FireandIce95**


	4. When Plan A Succeeds

**Heyy so this chapter is now officially up! Yay! Sorry this update took me so long, I have been incredibly busy lately with school. Everything has been very crazy. But now I'm back. And I won't bore you with a super-long authors note. So on with the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I own nada.**

4. When Plan A Succeeds, Continue With Plan B Anyway

Idris

William Herondale was absolutely giddy. Not only had he probably succeeded to ruin his cousin's night, but he had also managed to kiss a girl. Now, Will was no stranger to kissing girls, he made it a habit to visit all the bars in London and offer his services as accompaniment to a few lovely ladies each night. He enjoyed the company. Kissing his cousin's girl was different though. It was . . . sweeter somehow, even though he was pretty sure that little miss Clarissa wasn't as well versed in the kissing arts as some of his earlier companions. Maybe that was the reason for the sweetness of the kiss.

Well, that and the fact that things that don't belong to you always seem better than the ones that do. That's why Will would always 'borrow' Jem's bubble-gum flavoured toothpaste, even though he had his own tube of the same flavour and brand.

Currently, Will was sitting on a bench beside a _very_ pissed off Clarissa Morgenstern. Her green eyes were like liquid fire, staring holes into Jessamine Lovelace and Jonathan Christopher Herondale's backs. Those two were still kissing, Jessamine holding Jonathan's head so that she would be in charge of when their mouths parted. That was Jessamine for you; she always had to be in charge.

"Will?" a small voice asked. Will turned his head to see Clarissa staring at him, her eyes more sad than angry at the moment.

"Yes, Clarissa?" Will responded.

"Do—do you think I'm pretty?" Clary asked. Will groaned internally. Of_ course_ the girl would think that just because her boyfriend was sucking face with another girl, there had to be something wrong with _her_.

The problem with this question was, though, that it put Will on the spot. He had two choices, he could either say yes and reassure her that Jace would come around, or he could say yes but this time convince her that _he_ thought she was beautiful and incredibly worthy of love. He picked option B, figuring that if he had already gotten this far, he might as well go all the way.

"Yes, Clarissa. I think you are beautiful. My cousin is just being an obnoxious prick. Jessamine isn't really that great. The only thing she has going for her are her looks, which as honestly put to shame by yours. She has about as much personality as an empty cardboard box."

A small smile appeared on her face. "Thanks Will. You can call me Clary, by the way. Whenever I hear someone call me Clarissa, I feel like I'm in trouble or something."

"Clary," Will said, tasting the word on his lips. It suited her in ways that he could not put in to words. Plus he was sure that it sounded pretty damn sexy with his accent. "Do you want to go for a walk? It's no use to sit here and watch them snog all night."

"Umm, sure, actually, yeah I'd love to. I need to clear my head and I can't do that with them in front of me. After all, I'm sure this is just some huge misunderstanding and that it was really Jessamine that initiated the kiss." Clary got up and turned to face Will, whether it was for the purpose of looking at him or simply _not_ having to look at Jonathan and Jessamine, Will didn't know. He was going to assume it was because she enjoyed looking at him, just for the sake of his ego.

Clary offered Will her hand, which he took. Her hand was warm and soft in his. "I know the perfect place for us to walk," Clary said suddenly.

Will, having never been to Idris before, decided to let her lead. "Okay, lead the way."

Clary led him away from the square and down a pathway he hadn't noticed before. "Is this a far walk?" Will asked, genuinely curious.

Clary shook her head. "Not particularly. You're a Shadowhunter; man up, a little walking won't hurt you."

Will chuckled at her attitude. Clary was certainly something. "So, tell me about yourself, Clary. You're a mystery; the girl who can bind Shadowhunters and Downworlders, but also the girl that was just crying over her boyfriend kissing another girl."

The last part earned him a sharp look. "I could say the same thing to you. You're obviously a heartless asshat who gets drunk and has one-night-stands for fun, but you _were_ super sweet a minute ago when I asked if I was pretty. We're both conundrums."

Will had to laugh at her perception of him. She was dead-on, especially the heartless part. Tessa had stolen his heart and crushed it into a million pieces when she chose Jem over him. Will wasn't one to delve into the confusing world of feelings, so he hid it with a sarcastic remark. "'Conundrums', huh? That's a rather big word isn't it?"

Clary shoved him playfully. "I was right; you are an asshat, with a capital ASS. Grade A, definitely. Before you get cocky about me calling you a 'Grade A' anything, I just want you to know that being a Grade A asshat is a bad thing. Come on, I walk faster than you and my legs are shorter." With that, Clary picked up her pace and was walking a few feet in front of Will. She kept looking over her shoulder, as if she expected him to catch up within seconds. Like his cousin could've.

They were walking for a solid half hour in pure silence before Clary stopped. She did this so suddenly that Will almost tripped over her. "What the hell? Why did you stop? I was just getting into the walking mood." Will said, mock complaining.

"Oh, shut up. We're here, asswad. Shut up and look around, maybe you'll recognise the place." Clary said, her voice too quiet and serene to be harsh.

Will did as she said and looked around. There was a group of trees to his right and a field of grass behind it. In front of him was a crystal clear lake with a sandy beach. "I have no idea what this place is. Clue me in on the punch line, would you poppet?"

Clary sighed loudly and sat down in the grass. "This is Lake Lyn, the Mirror of Dreams. It's the lake that the Angel rose out of to greet Jonathan Shadowhunter. It's also where I killed my father and brought my . . . brought Jace back."

"Brought Jace back from what, Clary?" Will asked, immediately intrigued. Maybe he could use this information to blackmail Jace.

"From death, Will. I could've wished for anything and I wished for him to be alive. I _saved_ him. He was supposed to be _dead_."

An idea popped into Will's head. He felt inclined to push Clary to this action. It was all involuntary, as if he was a puppet on a string. "I know something that will make you feel better, Clary. DO you have your stele on you?"

New York

Tessa lay quietly beside Simon, her hand wrapped around his wrist. Other than that connection, they were lying without anything touching. Tessa wished that Simon could've had a pulse, a steady one like her clockwork angel. She had given the little trinket to Jem as a way for him to remember her. She knew that he was going to be spending time around gorgeous Shadowhunters; girls who were more toned than Tessa, more graceful, shorter, and certainly more human. Every morning since Tessa had first met Magnus Bane she would run to the bathroom and inspect her body for some sign of what she was. Cat eyes, like Magnus had, or maybe talons or a tail like she had been told some other warlocks have. Every morning she would sigh with relief, knowing that for one more day she could pretend to be normal.

Simon snored softly beside Tessa, murmuring something about not wanting any more pie, and that he liked his toes the colour they were. Tessa let out a little snort at Simon's sleep talking and gently let go of his wrist. She wiggled out of the covers and softly padded across the floor, walking on her tip-toes because of the cold. She made her way over to her suitcase and pulled out the clothes she had chosen last night. Once she had that matter sorted out she started tip-toeing to the bathroom. She had found it last night, completely by accident, so she knew where it was without having to 'interrupt the Great Magnus Bane's beauty rest'.

I made it to the bathroom without losing any toes to the frigid floor or stepping on Chairman Meow. For good measure I closed and locked the door behind me. I slipped my new undergarments on under my nightgown and pulled my nightgown off. I stood in front of Magnus's huge mirror in my bra and panties, inspecting my body for anything inhuman. At the moment, my body was one hundred percent human, no weird mutations to mark me as a half-demon half-human. I stared at my reflection for another minute before deciding that it was too cold to be scrutinizing my body. I pulled on a pair of jeans that I bought behind Jessamine's back and a plain white tank top. Jessamine insisted that proper English women don't wear pants; Tessa thought her whole outlook on life was a little old-fashioned. And besides, Tessa was American by birth, not British.

After pulling on the tank top, Tessa buttoned up her blue cardigan. She gave herself a once-over in the mirror and decided that her appearance was as good as it was going to get. She flushed the toilet and ran the sink for good measure and walked out of the bathroom after humming the alphabet in her head and turning the sink off. She didn't want Magnus to assume that she was having a relationship with the bathroom or anything like that.

When she slipped back into her borrowed room, Simon was still lying in the bed. _Good God, he sleeps like the dead_, Tessa thought. Then, her cheeks going red with embarrassment, Tessa realized what she had just said. _Of course he sleeps like the dead, he _has_ died_, she chastised herself. She watched in silence as Simon rolled over, whispering something to himself that sounded suspiciously like "I can _touch_ them, Izzy?"

Tessa laughed and decided to leave Simon in his dream world. At least he was having a good night. Tessa's sleep was plagued with nightmares about her brother, Nate, and Axel Mortmain. Just the thought of her older brother working with that creep willingly gave her shivers. _Breakfast_, she thought. _I need food, then maybe I can stop thinking about poor Nathaniel_.

Surprisingly, Magnus was in the kitchen. Tessa would never have pegged Magnus for a cook, and she was probably right. Upon closer inspection, she noted that the warlock was actually mixing colourful vials together, probably a mix of all the drinks from his parties.

"Teresa Gray, so nice of you to join the living world," Magnus said without turning to look at her.

"What? I've been up for a while, actually." Tessa wasn't sure what about Magnus made her go all defensive, but somehow, like Will, he brought out her lesser qualities.

"Yes, yes, I now that. No signs that you're like me yet, am I correct?" Magnus asked, sounding bored.

"How did you know about that? Were you watching me in the bathroom?" Tessa asked, shocked that someone would actually do that.

"Ah, dearest Tessa, I have a boyfriend. If I'm interested in his bits, why would I want to take a look at yours, hmm?"

Tessa let out a long sigh. "Right, got it."

Magnus turned around to smirk at her, again reminding her of Will and his sardonic smirks. Why was she thinking about Will? If she was missing anyone right now, it should be Jem. "Where are my houseguest manners? Miss Teresa Gray, are you hungry?"

Tessa brushed thoughts of Will away and turned to look at Magnus's cat eyes. "I'm positively starved."

Idris

Jace was sickened by the _thing_ that was attached to his face. They'd migrated to a bench from the middle of the square, but Jessamine hadn't halted her lips except to take shallow gasps of breath. She seemed pretty turned on by the half-assed kissing, but Jace on the other hand was feeling sicker by the minute. He saw Clary's face when Jessamine latched her mouth onto his, and the memory of the hurt look on her face was almost too much for Jace to take. He had never in his life wanted to hit a girl as much as he wanted to hit Jessamine at this moment.

_What right does this bitch have to hurt Clary? Clary, who is a thousand times more amazing than Jessamine_, he asked himself. He came to the realization that Jessamine had no right to kiss him and that he should be running over to Clary and apologizing to her. His damn cousin made that impossible though, leading Clary away to the Mortal Mirror.

Jace wasn't sure who he should be more upset with: Jessamine, for kissing him, or Will, for kissing Clary. Maybe he was mad at them equally.

Jessamine's hand was creeping down from his neck to the base of his shirt and attempting to lift it off. Jace was _not_ about to let her go down that road. He swatted her hand away and Jessamine giggled against his lips. She moved her mouth to nibble his ear and whispered, "You want to play that game? Okay, I'll let you take my dress off first, but let's go somewhere a little more private."

Jace felt like he was about to throw up."Dammit, Jessamine! Get the hell off me!" Jace burst. Once the words were out he felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of his chest, and he could breathe again.

The hurt look on Jessamine's face didn't succeed in fazing Jace. "Jace-y, but I thought we were having such fun! Didn't you _want_ to kiss me?"

Jace was going to try to say this as nicely as he could. He settled on saying, "Hell no. You forced this on me. _I_ have a girlfriend."

Jessamine's lips formed a little 'o'. "You, you have a girlfriend? I, I didn't know that."

Jace pushed Jessamine off his lap. "Yeah, like I believe that," he said sarcastically. In a more serious voice he said, "I've got to go apologize to my girlfriend for your actions now. So if you'll excuse me." He stood up and left, leaving Jessamine sitting on the bench protesting his exit.

Jace knew the way to the Mirror or Dreams like he knew the back of his hand. Since Clary brought him back, that place was almost like his birthplace. They say that you always know how to find your first home, and Lake Lyn had almost become like that to him. He followed the familiar path down to the lake, hiding behind trees to keep out of asshole Will's eyesight.

Jace found them on the beach; Will leaning over Clary and Clary drawing runes in the sand. Jace climbed The Tree to get a better sight of what they were doing. This was the tree that he had hidden in to surprise his . . . to surprise Valentine. He could hear snippets of their conversation.

"Will, are you sure this will make me feel better?" That was Clary's voice.

"Yes, dearest sister. This will make you feel much better." This voice came from Will, but it was devoid of his accent. And he called Clary 'sister' . . .

"Sister? Will, are you feeling alright?" Clary asked.

"Oh, yes. Sorry, I meant Clary. You see, you're so sweet; you're almost like a sister to me. Draw the next rune now, Clary. The one for forgetting." Will said. _For forgetting what_? Jace wondered.

"Okay, Will. But, you know, I don't feel any different. What is this supposed to do, anyway?" Clary sounded confused. Jace willed her to throw down the stele and run away.

"It's to make everything better. Now draw the one for travel, good girl. You're doing great, just a few more pieces." Will's accent-less voice sounded oddly familiar to Jace.

Jace had to squint to see what Clary was drawing. Her stele was glowing white and the sand where she had drawn the runes was glowing an eerie green. The next few sentences were whispered so quietly that Jace couldn't even manage to hear snippets of it. A prickling sensation started along his arms. Jace looked down to the green ruins Clary had drawn on the sand appearing on his arms. What had she done?

He jumped out of The Tree and landed softly on his feet. His breath was coming in sharp pants as the prickling sensation became harder and more painful. "Clary! What did you do?" Jace shouted, getting her attention.

Clary spun around, her green eyes wide. "Jace? I thought you were with Jessamine?"

"I was but I came here to apologize. I didn't mean to kiss her. She forced it on me. What have you done?" Jace got closer to her, holding his arm out for her to see the green runes.

"Oh my, oh my God, Jace, I don't know. God dammit, Will what's happening?" a panicked tone entered Clary's voice.

"He's leaving now, Clary. But don't worry, it's for the best. It'll make you feel better." Will's normally blue eyes were glowing black and Jace suddenly realized why Will's unaccented voice sounded so familiar.

"Clary, Clary, don't trust him. I think he's being controlled. I—" a cry of pain escaped Jace's lips as the prickling spread through his body and turned to heat. He fought to keep his eyes open and willed his mouth to open and tell Clary who was controlling Will. The heat enveloped him and his vision went pitch black.

The last thing he heard was Clary screaming his name. "Jace!"

**Thank you to all those who reviewed the previous chapters, you're all awesome. Just a quick note to readers of my other stories that I am in the middle of writing the next chapters and that I have finally gotten over my writers block. So please review for me and I will send out teasers of the next chapter to reviewers as soon as I start writing it. **

**xoxoxo**

**FireandIce95**


	5. As If Nothing Ever Happened

**Hello! I am so so so sorry that I've been missing for so long! School and work have been CRAZY BUSY! This chapter is short (for me, at least) because I had major writer's block while writing this. I really hope I was able to keep the light tone of the story. So, without further excuses or apologies, Chapter 5!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

5. As If Nothing Ever Happened

ooO*&*Ooo

He ran a hand through his hair, staring at the total chaos he had created. It made him feel . . . powerful. Like nothing, _nothing_, could bring him down. Not his stupid sister, not those stupid Shadowhunters who were protecting her, _no one_, _nothing_, _no way_.

He liked the feel of this revenge thing. The whole ruining people's lives and not getting caught part was exhilarating. Adrenaline pumping through his veins, he looked at the portal that showed him his sister, cuddling with a dark-haired boy he had never seen before.

"—I just don't know who to choose, Simon. Jem is so sweet, but on the other hand, Will is mysterious and _different_." His sister was saying to the boy.

"You're asking me this because? I'm not gay, Tessa, no matter what Jace says." The boy took a sip of a red liquid. _Blood!_ His heart began pounding in his head. Oh, God, his sister was fraternizing with a vampire! A freaking vampire, a completely real bloodsucking leech.

He took deep breaths. _I don't care,_ he thought, _I don't care what the hell she's doing. She's with _them_, the angel-human hybrids. She crossed the line to the dark side_. And besides, their plan was all coming together now. She wouldn't matter to him in a few days. She wouldn't exist in a few days. _They_ all had to be eradicated. Them and all they had influenced, his sister included.

He dropped the curtain he had been holding, letting the image on the portal disappear under the velvet cloth. Then he walked away, clenching his fists and swearing under his breath.

Somewhere

Jace's whole body felt like an open wound. Jace, with a high pain tolerance for pain, was taken aback by the severity of the sense of _hurt_ that surged through him. This wasn't your normal _Oh, I fell down and now I've scraped my knee oh no_ pain. It was your roll on the ground swearing in every language you know while hoping someone trained in any kind of medical support would come help you kind of pain. Yeah, _ouch_ doesn't even begin to cover it.

Shadowhunter instincts taking over, Jace surveyed his surroundings for possible dangers and anything he could use as a weapon. One sweep of his belt with an injured arm told Jace two things: one, his arm was still attached to his body, and two, his weapons had either A, fallen out somewhere, or B, been taken from him. He was betting on Option B. Whoever had sent him here knew all of his weaknesses and was likely smart enough to know that taking weapons away from a prisoner was a good idea if you wanted them to stay as that.

He was in a forest of some sort. Or at least, it looked like a forest. There were trees all around him, coniferous and deciduous alike. They were a lush green colour, like trees you only ever saw in conservatories and on television. "Well, dammit, my idiot cousin actually managed to accomplish something." Jace said out loud. "And now I'm talking to myself. _Great_."

A rustling in the bushes sent Jace to his feet, standing in a tired-looking defensive stance. "Who's there?" he called.

More rustling ensued, then a mechanical wailing sound, like the elevator at the Institute when it was having a bad day and probably needed some caretaking. Limping slightly, and—although he would never admit it to anyone—in a considerable amount of pain, Jace walked over to where the noise was coming from. Moving the ferns aside, he uncovered what looked like a small boy, with a face half made of metal and skin peeling from his mechanical arms.

"We—have—you—Angel—Boy. There—is—no—way—for—you to escape. Not—even—you can escape what is—here. Give—in—to—my master, or you may—never—see the Morgenstern girl—again." The mechanical boy got out, his voice flat and emotionless.

"What the hell?" Jace asked, kicking the mechanical child in the way he wished he could kick his cousin right now. "What are you—they doing to Clary?"

"Give—in—Angel—Boy. Give—in. Give—M—what—he—wants." A metal couching fit ensued, and the mechanical boy's eyes gave him one more steely glare before rolling backwards and his limbs beginning to leak a black-ish fluid equivalent to blood.

Alicante, Idris

Jem didn't care for his _parabatai_'s antics at midnight. He didn't really care for Will's antics at any time, but _especially_ not night time. Will was pacing in a nervous circle, his normally gleaming blue eyes turned wide and anxious. "Angel, crap, crap, crap, crap! What've I done?" he was muttering.

"Look, Will, no matter how many times you wish to be able to go to the bathroom, the Angel just doesn't control those things. I would call more on Mother Nature if I was you." Jem said, flipping Will's nervousness off with a sarcastic comment. This was role reversal at its finest. Usually, it was he, Jem, who was the one prone to nervousness, to any sort of human feeling, and it was Will flipping off sarcastic comments.

"Bastard. You know what I mean. I don't even _like_ Clarissa, and now I've off-ed her boyfriend and have her looking to me for answers to where stupid _Jace_ has gone and _why did he have to leave her? Was she not good enough? Not pretty enough_?" Will's voice went up a few octaves to mimic Clarissa's.

"Will you shut the hell up? I'm trying to sleep," a voice muttered from the other side of the room. The body in the bed rolled over, the pillow was flipped to cover the head, and the blanket was pulled up all the way. Maximum sound blockage.

"Sorry, Alec." Jem called to the aggravated boy.

"Lightwoods. They're all the same," Will said. He had stopped pacing, thank the Angel. "I need to go for a walk. Care to join me, Carstairs? I've never walked around Alicante after curfew before. I'm sure they're a few bars here, probably a brothel or two catering to fellows with odd tastes."

"_Will_. I've told you time and time again that I don't need to take my frustrations out sexually. And I certainly don't want to watch _you_ do just that. I don't care what type of Downworlder you fancy the most." Jem said.

"I don't go to brothels back in England," Will said quietly, as if this was his biggest, darkest secret.

"So what do you do when you're out after dark then, pray tell?" Jem asked, not up for Will's riddles. "Get drunk and have bathroom sex with barmaids?"

"Jem, I don't know what's gotten into you tonight. What's got your panties in a knot?" There it was. The famous Will Herondale subject changer.

"Nothing. Just a lousy sleep last night and too much of that wine at dinner. I sat beside Lilianna Nightlocke, you remember her right? Charlotte thought it would be fun to invite her family over for a party last year and I found Lilianna and her brother, Marcuse, entangled in the broom closet. I needed something strong to keep me from revisiting it. I now remember why I don't drink."

"You're such a lightweight. I had my cousin beat me up at the table and you did nothing about it because you were boozing. You know what, Jem, just go to sleep. I'll alert the cook that you'll be nursing a Titanic hangover tomorrow and to have something prepared for you." With that, Will left, leaving Jem and his pounding, muddled head in the darkness with naught but Alec's snoring in the room.

New York City, New York

Stealing is bad. She knew that. But she couldn't deny that the eggs Magnus Bane 'stole' were delicious. More delicious, it seemed, than regular, morally-made eggs. The sad part was that Tessa was pretty sure she was the only one enjoying them. Well, Simon couldn't eat eggs, and besides he'd explained to her yesterday that he was Jewish before he was a vampire and used to only eat kosher meals. And Magnus probably couldn't tell Simon how these eggs were taken from the chicken.

Chairman Meow was enjoying the taste of Tessa's foot. He had been licking it for the past ten minutes and no matter how hard or how often Tessa might shake her foot, Chairman hung on. Magnus was finding this fact hilarious. "Look I don't understand how this can possibly be funny," Tessa exclaimed, seeing Simon begin to chuckle as well.

"It's not that. It's, Chairman apparently likes you," Magnus said, a devious smirk on his face.

"Can someone please tell me what's going on? Simon?" Tessa felt a warm sensation on her foot.

"Tessa, dear, just be glad you weren't wearing any shoes. On the bright side, it appears Chairman Meow likes you. He's never done that on anyone before and stuck around." Tessa whipped her head around to glare at Magnus.

He snapped his fingers and the wet on Tessa's foot disappeared with a blast of cold air. "Thank you." She said tightly.

"Loosen up, Tessa. Chairman didn't mean any harm. He's a cat for," Simon paused, swallowing awkwardly, "well, he's just a cat."

Tessa was about to reply when the room got cold and the lights flickered off. It was as if someone stole all the heat from the room. "Maybe Chairman found something else to pee on," Simon said jokingly. Even he sounded nervous.

"No, this is something else," Magnus said, his voice steady. "Something's wrong. I'm going to send a fire-message to Alec, have him alert the Lightwoods. Simon, you go call Luke, his number is in the phonebook under Big Bad Wolf, and Tessa, you just stay with Simon and make sure he doesn't ruin my kitchen floor. Vampire vomit stains are incredibly hard to get off my floor, even with the use of magic."

Simon's cold hand, which was made even colder by the iciness of the room, wrapped around Tessa wrist. "C'mon, I'm not going to throw up, I swear. Come talk to the leader of the New York City wolf pack with me. He's much nicer than Maia, I promise." Simon led Tessa to the kitchen, where he plucked a glitter-fied phone off the counter. Dialling a number he didn't need the phone book to know, Simon gave Tessa a reassuring smile.

Tessa tried to smile back, but was preoccupied by shivering. One upside to being a vampire, she supposed, was that Simon couldn't really feel the cold. She wasn't as lucky. "Luke, its Simon. I'm calling from Magnus'. Something's . . . wrong. Yes, we're all fine. But I think the idea is, Magnus wants you over here. . . You're _where_? Why the hell are you _there_? Well, you might as well make yourself useful and come over her then. As much as I'd like to see you go wolf on Raphael, I'd prefer you do it when I'm there to watch. You'll be here in a minute? Okay." Simon hit the _end call_ button on the phone. When he brushed his hands on his jeans, pieces of glitter rubbed off on them.

"So he's coming here? What's going on?" Tessa asked.

"Yes, he'll be here in a minute. And I have no idea," Simon replied sincerely.

"But I do, Tessie," a too-familiar voice said.

Somewhere

Jace was bored. And tired. And pissed off. Not a good combination. After he finished hiking in the strange forest for a few hours, he had finally found a place to rest. There was a little lake to his right and a large crevice in the wall of rock to his left. And all around there were trees, more damn trees.

Jace leaned against a tree, surveying his surroundings. The throbbing near-pain in his ankle had faded to a dull ache, barely there. He no longer felt like a giant bruise, he was ready to take on whatever was here. The mechanic boy's warning had been replaying in his head. _"__Give—in—Angel—Boy. Give—in. Give—M—what—he—wants."_ Who the hell was M?

Grabbing a tree branch lying on the ground, Jace hurled it into the forest, eliciting a fit of chirps from a flock of birds nesting where it hit. They flew over his head in a great mass of blue, red, green and oil-spill black feathers. One bird, a particularly large one with midnight blue feathers and ruby eyes, dropped a piece of black paper at Jace's feet.

He picked it up, unfolding the sheet. _Angel boy,_ it read in white scrawl, _the safety of Clarissa Morgenstern lies in your hands. You are both required, in some way, to a ritual I am performing. You are free to go, if you comply with my wishes. The first of which is that I need your blood for the ceremony. The second of which is that I need Clarissa's talent, and you are the only one who can convince her to use it. If you are willing to do this, meet me at the Crystal Cavern (a good 10 miles south of your current location) at midnight. —M and S_

S? Another mysterious initial. Jace reread the note, carefully weighing his options. He could always meet this mysterious S and M and trick them into bringing him back to Idris. He would need fake blood, then. He knew the power of his blood; it had enabled Simon to walk in daylight, and he wasn't going to give it to some bastard just because they threatened Clarissa. He would find another way, before midnight.

**So, as you can probably guess, the next chapter is being called Midnight. Let me know what you thought of this chapter and I promise to try my hardest to update soon! If you are reading any of my other stories, I promise to try and update those soon too! I have all the chapters started, but what I write depends on my mood. The way it's going right now, I'll probably update Angel Fire next. Until the next chapter, review! I appreciate your reviews sooo much!**

** Thanks!**

**FireandIce95**


	6. Midnight

**I was feeling really inspired, so I wrote this chapter. I hope you like it, it's a good deal longer than the last one, and a lot of important events happen in it. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

6. Midnight

Somewhere

The answer came in the form of a monkey. Jace wasn't surprised to see the brown furry thing pop its head out of a tree, after seeing multicolour birds and noticing the variety of flora and fauna in the twisted forest. So, when it poked its head out of the tree, Jace was ready with his make-shift slingshot of a taught vine and a roughly slingshot-shaped piece of wood from what he recognised as a juniper tree from his botany lessons with Hodge (that he pretended he hadn't been paying attention to). He launched the round stone with impeccable aim right at the monkey's forehead.

The monkey came tumbling out of the tree, the rock leaving a dent in its head. Feeling no remorse for the monkey, Jace picked it up and used the sharp rock he found by the little lake to cut through the monkey's skin. It was like what doing a dissection in biology class might've looked like in the Cenozoic era. When the blood started pooling and dripping, Jace collected it in a leaf, which he had painted brown with mud from the lake. Jace had shucked off his black sweater and, using sap from one of the many trees in the forest, sap-glued another brown-painted leaf to his arm, so the monkey blood would not touch his skin. Jace carefully held the leaf filled with monkey blood in his dominant left hand and manoeuvred his right arm so the glued-on leaf matched up with the monkey blood leaf. He carefully aligned them and used more of the sap-glue as an adhesive to keep the leaf attached to his arm. He then proceeded in splattering himself with mud to make the slightly raised and darker leaf pocket blend in with his skin. He applied a second coat of sap and mud to the pocket several minutes later to ensure it stayed on.

Looking at the position of the sun, which marked it as sunset; he got up and took one last look at his rough sun compass. The sun's position made it point west, so he marked each of the directions and then set off to make a fire, using the driest wood he could find and two pieces of flint he was lucky enough to find hiding in the large crevice. When the sun was fully down and the moon halfway up in the sky, Jace stood up and started his trek to the 'Crystal Cavern'. He had a torch, lit from the flames of his fire to help guide him through the forest.

After he walked a good five miles, Jace could hear a ticking sound, like that of a clock. Stopping, he held his torch out, using its light to survey his surroundings. There was nothing but trees, and more trees and moonlight. He kept walking, keeping an ear out for the ticking, which had momentarily ceased. For the next three miles, the ticking followed him, on and off. _I'm going crazy_, Jace thought. He was hearing ticking noises in the middle of a forest, he had monkey blood attached to his arm in a leaf pouch and he was talking to himself.

"_Jace Herondale_," something hissed, making Jace jump, although if anyone asked he would deny it. "_You are close, Jace Herondale. The Masters are very impressed with your compliance. Very impressssed_," it slurred the 's' sound so it sounded a little like a hiss.

Jace took a deep breath and pressed on; ignoring the feeling that someone was following him. He was one of the best, if not _the_ best, young Shadowhunters in the world, he could handle whatever was following him.

In the distance, something glowed luminously, as if lit by a surreal light. "_Welcome, Jace Herondale, to the Crystal Cavern_," the hissing voice said. Jace didn't even turn around to see where it was coming from this time. He didn't care. He was moments away from getting out of this hellish forest and back to Clary to do damage control for whatever mess his idiotic cousin, Will, made.

He walked to the mouth of the cave, peering inside curiously. The cave seemed to go on for miles and miles. Stalactite and stalagmite glowed luminously, surrounded by shimmering azure water and ivory rocks. "_I will guide you, Jace Herondale, to the Mastersss_," the hissing voice said, followed my light footsteps.

A purple Eidolon demon stood in front of Jace, its hair electric blue and formed into a Mohawk. It had glowing red eyes, like the bird that dropped the letter at Jace's feet. "_Follow me, Misssster Herondale_," it invited him, tongue forked like a snakes. Jace complied, keeping himself ready to fight at a moment's notice. He had a rock in his pocket, sharpened to a point. It was his weapon, and while it was much smaller than a dagger, Jace figured it could do just as much damage if wielded properly.

The demon led Jace through the cave down various bends. The whole cave seemed to glow with the same unearthly light, pulsing and breathing as if it was alive and hungry . . .

A voice shook Jace from his thoughts. "Well, Jonathan, it seems your pet has done its job correctly."

Jace whipped his head around to the direction of the sound. A short man with weathered skin and thinning gray hair looked at Jace. His eyes were a piercing green. He wasn't the one Jace was looking at, though. His eyes were fixated on the fair-haired boy to the balding man's left. Jonathan Morgenstern. Jace had thought he was dead, he _killed_ him, after all, but here Jonathan, or Sebastian, was. Clear as day.

"Surprised to see me, little brother?" the fair-haired boy asked.

"No, not really. I preferred thinking you were dead. Pity you didn't stay there, now I'm going to have to kill you again." Jace replied.

"You're not the only one to visit Hell and return to the earth, Angel Boy. Did they burn off your wings there?" Jonathan asked in the same taunting voice as Valentine.

"Jonathan! Our purpose is not to aggravate our guest. Jace came here of his own accord to help us. He could be out sleeping under a tree or doing something else enjoyable right now, but he made the trip to see us," the balding man said in a sharp voice. "I am Axel Mortmain." He had a pleasant voice, tinted with a hint of a British accent mixed with something else.

"I'm here, Mortmain. Take the blood and bring me back to Idris," Jace said, making his voice bored, drawling.

Mortmain licked his lips like a hungry cat. "All in due time, Jace Herondale. Firstly, I need you to come closer. You are much too far. I need your blood in a vial, not splattered all over the cavern floor." Jace moved closer, coming to stand across the ivory rock table from Mortmain. Up close, he could see a thin crystal vial placed in the centre of the table.

Mortmain pulled a thin dagger, which Jace knew to be a misericord dagger, out of his suit pocket. He dipped it in the azure water of a nearby puddle and blew on it. "Now, here is the dagger. Jonathan will make sure your blood gets into the vial while I word on opening a portal. I am nothing if I am not a man of my word, Mister Herondale," Mortmain said, handing Jace the dagger.

Jonathan held the vial steady while Jace brought the dagger down on his arm where the pouch of monkey blood was. "A bit deeper, little brother," Jonathan said. Jace nodded and pushed the dagger deeper, touching it to his actual skin, but not enough so to actually pierce it. He positioned it over the vial and gently applied pressure to get the blood flowing. It poured easily into the vial. When it was fully, Jonathan moved to vial, causing Jace to splatter a few drops of blood on the ivory rock.

Jonathan passed Jace a red cloth. "Mortmain told me to give you that for the wound. He was worried that if we returned you to Clarissa scathed, she would be harder to convince to help us. Rest assured that is the only reason I have not yet killed you."

"Of course. It's certainly not because of your naturally cowardly nature," Jace retorted, pressing the cloth to his wound. His skin stung where the misericord touched it, like the bite of a stele the first time you use it.

"Mister Herondale, your portal is ready. Meet us in the Brocelind Forest on the first full moon of the new month, which is two days from now. We thank you very much for your compliance."

Alicante, Idris

Clary etched words into the ground furiously. _Idiot. Boyfriend. Not good enough. Jessamine. Angel my ass_. And runes, she drew runes. They were powerless, of course, without her stele, but to her they meant something. _What would a do-over rune look like?_

The Square was empty. Technically, it was past curfew and Clary was supposed to be safely tucked into her bed in the room she shared with Isabelle and Jessamine. She couldn't stand to be in that room right now. Isabelle had been painting her toes a colour called _fishnet stockings_ by _Essie _when Clary left, and Jessamine had been complaining about the smell of nail polish and how rude it was of Jace to just leave her like that. Being in there gave her a migraine and the strongest urge to hit someone.

So she snuck out. It was easier than sneaking out of her old house in Brooklyn. A few Shadowhunter guards saw her, waved, and kept walking, as though they saw young Shadowhunters sneak out of their houses every night after curfew. _Stupid. Will. Runes. Gone_. She went back to writing words and phrases. Those were easier.

She could barely remember what happened last night. Today, she and Isabelle toured around Alicante, Isabelle showing her all of the hotspots and good places to eat. For lunch, they went to a Shadowhunter bar, where Isabelle flirted with the waiter and got a free Sex on the Beach while Clary had a fully paid for Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri. For a few minutes there, she had been happy, watching Isabelle flirt with the thirty-something year old waiter in her vintage form-fitting black dress and black stiletto booties.

And then reality sunk in. The fact that Jace had gone missing, and she was sure it had something to do with her and Will. They had done _something_; she knew that much, but _what_ she had no idea. Something crackled behind Clary and she jumped.

Turning around, she saw it was Will, stepping on a brown leaf. "Crap, Will, you startled me!" Clary exclaimed, looking up at the dark-haired boy.

Will looked at her, as if he hadn't noticed her before. "Sorry, Clarissa, I didn't see you there. What are you doing up and about at this hour?" Will sat down beside her on the ledge.

With one swipe of her stick, Clary cleared all of your words, runes, and phrases from the ground. "Nothing, I was bored in my room and the smell of ethyl acetate from Isabelle's nail polish was giving me a headache. Why are you out here?"

"God, I hate when Jessamine does her nails in the parlor. Makes it stink for weeks. I'm out here because I wanted to go for a walk and Jem refused to join me. Some _parabatai_ he is sometimes. Kept mumbling about how he thought I had a bladder problem. I do _not_ have a bladder problem," Will said, sounding dignified.

"You have verbal diarrhea, though," Clary informed him.

Will had a distant look in his eyes for a moment, and then they brightened. "You remind me of someone; the warlock girl who lives at the London Institute with us. Her name is Tessa. If she were allowed here, you would like her. She had the same typical New York humour as you do."

"Thanks," Clary said dryly. "Do you wander at night in London too?"

"Oh, yes, all the time. I'm a regular customer at all the bars . . . and even some of the brothels," he said with a sly wink.

"What the hell?" Clary exclaimed, not sure if she should leave now or not.

"You know, whorehouses. I'm sure Jace is a frequent visitor of the ones in New York," Will said, humour creeping its way into his tone.

"No, he is not a frequent visitor, and I highly doubt you are one." Clary said.

"Oh, but I am. I seem to visit them all the time now, for investigations and shit. The last one Jem and I visited had half-metal girls in it with peeling skin. It was quite a turn-off."

Clary laughed. "I'm sure it was. In London, you investigate whorehouses; in New York we investigate clubs. Well, one club in particular, Pandemonium. Have you heard of it?"

Will gave her a serious look. "There's a Downworlder organization in London called the Pandemonium Club. They seem hell-bent on making mine and Jem's work load increase. It's rather pathetic how they can't seem to get enough of us." Will looked away from Clary, training his eyes on the buses framing the square. "Someone's there."

Clary sat up straighter, straining to hear and see what Will was talking about. Then, she heard rustling and saw the bush move slightly . . .

"Thank the Angel you're safe, Clary!" A muddied boy with amber eyes rose from out of the bushes. _Jace_.

"Wot the hell happened to you, cousin?" Will asked, a poorly hidden smirk playing across his features.

Jace ignored his cousin. "Clary, I need to tell you something. Now." His tone was urgent.

Clary stood up. "Of course. Why don't we go back to your room and you can take a shower and then talk to me." She snuck a glance at Will who was pretending to look uninterested. "Will can come too, if he likes, seeing as it's his room."

Will stood up. "Of _course_ I would _love_ to join you and Jace, Clarissa. Thank you _so_ much for the invitation!"

New York City, New York

"Tessie, Tessie, Tessie. Mixing with the wrong crowd again. Can you not do anything right?" Nate asked his disgusting Downworlder 'sister'. Heaven knows he wasn't _actually_ related to that abomination. "What do we have here? Another warlock and a vampire. Tessie, I thought you would have more sense than to fraternize with the bloodsuckers, after all, you saw what they did to me back in England."

Tessa didn't reply. She glared stonily back at her 'brother'. She felt that was an inadequate term to describe him with, seeing as a brother was _supposed_ to stick up for you. "Do you know why I'm here, Tessie?" Nate asked.

Tessa, Magnus and Simon were all tied to chairs in Magnus' kitchen. "I'm here to gloat. The Magister has figured out away to rid the world of Shadowhunters. Isn't that brilliant? He's trying to find a way to eradicate Downworlders, too, but until he finds a way, we are keeping you in lockdown, all Downworlders. I'm here to offer you a chance, Tessie. You can save yourself, pledge your allegiance to the Magister and our cause, and you can come with me, as my sister, to the Magister. He will take you in; give you a house and clothes and food. He can tell you about your real parents."

"I don't really care about finding out about my real parents, Nate. I guess being a 'damned Downworlder' has taken away my ability to feel."

Being around Nephilim had given his sister an attitude, Nate noticed. Here she was, tied to a chair with nowhere to go, and _she_ was making fun of _him_. "Fine, Tessie, have it that way. I will see to it personally that your kind is burned instead of simply being un-demonified."

"Nate, un-demonified isn't a word," Tessa corrected him; sounding a lot like the girl he grew up with. _No, this is not that girl. This is a monster_, he reminded himself.

"I can make up whatever words I like, Tessa. I don't _want_ to see you burned, Tessie, but if you don't come with me then I have no choice. I have to treat you the same I would any other Downworlder scum." Nate said with malice.

"Downworlder scum my Prada-clad ass," Magnus muttered beside Tessa. "Oh, and Mister Gray, you have a Downworlder-inspired fire message behind you."

Magnus had been telling the truth. _In five minutes a portal will open in the Bane household. Send the Downworlders through and I will meet you there,_ was written in big, flaming letters. "Looks like we're leaving soon. Is there anything I can get you? Your pathetic cat? Some cow blood? The Queen of England's favourite bonnet so you can Change into her and have her guards arrest me?"

Simon answered this time. "I'd take a cow's blood over yours any day. Yours would be too . . . _intoxicated_ and _drugged_ for my taste."

"You son of a bitch. Tessie, is this who you want to die beside? A smart ass vampire and a gay warlock?" Nate asked.

"I'd rather die beside them than join you, Nate. Aunt Harriet told you every day that you cannot always get what you want." Tessa said coldly.

"Aunt Harriet was an awful woman and I hope her soul is burning in hell. I don't give a damn what she used to say," Nate replied. He looked over his shoulder as a portal was appearing. "Looks like our ride is here. Who wants to go first?"

Alicante, Idris

Jace stepped out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a navy blue towel around his waist. Clary, who had been sitting on his bed talking with Will, turned around to look at him, her mouth forming a little 'o'.

"What are you staring at, Clarissa? It's just my cousin. If you think he's impressive shirtless than you haven't seen me yet," Will said.

"How many times do I have to tell you that my name is Clary? Clarissa sounds like a grandmother's name. And I don't really want to look at either of your shirtless right now, so Jace put a shirt on." Clary said.

Jace rummaged through his neatly kept bag, pulling out a grey t-shirt and a pair of dark wash jeans. Clary sincerely hoped he had a pair of boxers in the pile too. She could just imagine Will's remarks about his 'Cousin Jonathan Christopher' going commando. _Oh, you think he's packing? Wait until you see me go commando._

Jace left the room to get changed, leaving Clary alone with Will. As she sat across from him, her hands itched for her sketch book and favourite set of charcoal pencils. The lines of Will's face, not unlike Jace's, were delicate in a masculine way. The perfect curve of his nose, the way his mouth managed to look devilish even when he was acting sweet, his lean torso just hinting at the wiry muscles beneath the alabaster skin in a way that made him look thin and lithe, not big and burly. Where Jace was all white and gold Will was white and shadows with piercing blue eyes that could rival Alec's.

"You're staring at me. Why are you staring at me?" Will asked her, in a way that was so like Jace that it made her heart ache. _What had they done?_ She danced with and kissed Will, and danced with and kissed Jessamine and then went completely _missing_.

"No, I'm not. Why would I be staring at you?" Clary asked, cursing her pale skin for showing a blush so easily.

"Yes you were. And you know what, Clary? It's completely _okay_ to stare at me. I _am_ stunningly attractive. Much more so than my America cousin," Will said.

"No you're not," came Jace's reply, right on time, as he walked out of the bathroom, fully clothed and barefoot.

"Look, cousin, let's just come to an agreement here. You're attractive, I'm attractive, we come from a pretty damn attractive line. I'm surprised there aren't more little Herondale's running around Idris, what with our looks." Will amended.

"It's nice to see you too getting along," Clary commented, glad she hadn't had to intervene. "Now, Jace, why don't you sit down and tell us about where you've been."

Jace looked at his cousin. "If I'm going to tell _both_ of you, I need you, Will, to act like you're not here. I swear to God, if you don't keep your mouth shut, I will actually beat the shit out of you. And Clary won't stop me. I have had one _hell_ of a night."

Will mimed zipping his lips, locking them, and throwing away the key. Jace nodded at his cousin in a curt way, one that recognised his cousin's intent, but doubted the intent would be kept. "Do you remember what happened two nights ago, after the dinner? You and Isabelle had a plan to get Jessamine to give you the big bed and the dresser, which involved her _thinking_ I was into her. Well, I guess I played my part a little too well, and she believed it and kissed me. And then I looked over and saw you kissing Will, and you leaving for a walk with Will. Clary, I _swear_ on the Angel Raziel that I _hated_ every minute of kissing Jessamine. It was sickening. Please tell me you believe me," Jace said, looking right into Clary's emerald orbs.

She nodded, so he continued. "I pried Jessamine off my face and followed you. Will, but not really Will, because he called you 'sister' and sounded like Jonathan, had you drawing runes with his stele in the sand, right in the spot where you brought me . . . brought me back. The runes you drew in the sand started appearing on my arms, and just as I showed them to you blacked out. I woke up in a strange forest that was a mix of a rainforest and one of the forests we have in New York. I saw a strange mechanical boy and—"

Jace was cut off by Will. "Did you saw a 'mechanical boy'? Like an automaton?"

Jace gave Will a death glare. "Yes, like an automaton. It told me to give in or something would happen to you. And then, a bird dropped a letter at my feet, telling me to come to the Crystal Cavern to strike a deal .The letter said that they needed my blood, so I made a plan. I killed a monkey and used leaves and tree sap and mud to create a pocket of monkey blood, attach it to my arm, blend it in, and give that blood to Jonathan and Mortmain instead of my blood."

"Oh, _shit_," Clary and Will said in unison.

"Mortmain dipped a dagger in the water of this cavern and handed it to me. Jonathan held a vial for me to put my blood in, and when I was finished they sent me back here to get you. They want us to meet them in the Brocelind Forest in two days. I think they want you to draw runes for them." As Jace finished, Clary's face paled.

"They want me to _what_? They do know I can't just think of a rune to draw and pull it out of thin air, right? I've always been guided to draw them. I _can't_." She whispered, her voice suddenly sounding small and quiet.

Jace had an urge to wrap his arms around her and tell her it would be okay, but Will got there first, resting the palm of his hand on her back, rubbing with slow, gentle circles. _Bastard_.

Magnus' Apartment, New York City, New York

Magnus was the last in line to be sent through the portal. The whole procedure was quite tedious. First, Nathaniel Gray sent Tessa through the portal. He then waited for a fire message to tell him that she had arrived and was being escorted to her 'chambers' so he could send Simon through. After Simon, Lucian Graymark—who showed up just as the portal appeared—was to go through. And then, finally, Magnus.

So he had several moments to wait. And in those several moments, he came up with a brilliant plan. He couldn't escape his bonds without Nathaniel Gray holding a silver pen knife to Lucian's throat (and killing Clary's stepfather-to-be was _not_ a smart way for Magnus to escape, unless he wanted the wrath of the fiery little Shadowhunter upon him), so he came up with a better plan. One that still used magic, but it was better than _trying_ to tie of Nathaniel with magic _and_ undo his own bonds. It was also getting close to that time of the month when Magnus' magic needed to be replenished, so that made the whole situation even trickier.

His plan was to send a fire message to Alec while Nathaniel was busy waiting to receive the message that said Simon was through the portal and being 'taken care of', which probably meant being put in a cave. Nathaniel's head turned and Magnus knew it was his chance to act. Using his right hand, which had been his dominant one since his father whipped him every time he tried to use his left, he traced letters into the air. The slight scent of burning that accompanied the writing and sending of a fire message was well-timed, as it wasn't unusual to smell the smoke before the message appeared, which Nathaniel was looking for.

_Alec, we have been captured by Nathaniel Gray, who is working with someone called the Magister. His name is actually Axel Mortmain and he is working to purge the world of Shadowhunters and Downworlders. We are being sent through a portal, to where I do not know. I am going to assume it is somewhere in Idris, as that is where the majority of Shadowhunters are right now. My time is limited; I must go before Nathaniel realizes what I am doing. Xoxo, Magnus Bane_

"Get ready, Warlock, you are going through the portal next." Nathaniel said, standing Luke up and readying him to be sent through the portal. He pushed Lucian through, the silver knife scoring Lucian's back.

Before Magnus knew, he was being hauled to his feet by Nathaniel, the boy's hand dangerously close to his ass. "Don't touch the merchandise," Magnus said as the fire-message arrived. Nathaniel scowled at him.

"Get the hell through the portal, and shut up." The fair haired boy pushed Magnus through and then followed.

Alicante, Idris

Alec had been walking through Idris with Jem. For the _parabatai_ of Will Herondale, Jem was incredibly sane. They had that in common, both being eternally linked to Herondale's. Being an asshole was probably a family quality. When the burning smell clogged the air around them, Alec thought of Magnus. "What _is_ that?" Jem wondered aloud looking around.

Thinking of Magnus triggered something in Alec's memory. "A fire-message," he replied, looking around for the glowing letters. Jem, too, began looking around, although Alec doubted the Chinese-British Shadowhunter knew exactly _what_ it was they were looking for.

"There," Alec said, finding the glowing letters and pointing them out to Jem.

_Alec, we have been captured by Nathaniel Gray, who is working with someone called the Magister. _It read._ His name is actually Axel Mortmain and he is working to purge the world of Shadowhunters and Downworlders. We are being sent through a portal, to where I do not know. I am going to assume it is somewhere in Idris, as that is where the majority of Shadowhunters are right now. My time is limited; I must go before Nathaniel realizes what I am doing. Xoxo, Magnus Bane_

Alec felt his cheeks flush upon reading Magnus' departing sentence. _Xoxo, Magnus Bane_. Alec was not sure how Jem would take it, British Shadowhunters being very stuck in the old ways. "Tessa's in danger," was Jem's remark.

"We're all in danger," Alec replied, rereading the message. "We have to find Jace and Will."

And so they did. Luckily, they were not far from the house they were sharing together. Within five minutes, they were standing at the door to Will and Jace's room, knocking on the door. "You go get it, cousin dearest; Clarissa and I are having a _moment_." The voice sounded like Will's.

"Will, call me Clary, and we are _not_ having a moment. Will one of you just go get the door?" Clary, acting like a mediator for the two hard-headed Herondale's.

"Fine," came Jace's reply, his voice sharp. He opened the door. "What the hell do you—" He paused, as if he was only just realizing who was at the door. "Alec?"

"TheMagisterhasMagnus!" Alec stuttered out, his words coming out a jumbled mess. "The Magister, Axel Mortmain, has Magnus, and Luke, and Simon, and Tessa."

Upon hearing the word Tessa, Will jumped up from his place sitting on the bed next to Clary. The red-headed girl looked the slightest bit relieved. "Tessa? They have Tessa?"

Clary took a deep breath, joining them at the door. "It's all connected," she breathed, looking at Jace, her eyes conveying a message to him. "Your story, this story. It's all connected, its one giant plan. Alec, who told you this?"

Alec was feeling more than a little confused. What other story? "Magnus sent me a fire message." He recited the message, leaving out the _Xoxo, Magnus Bane_ part.

"Shit," Will swore. Jem gave him a reproachful look, so the dark-haired boy amended, "I mean, shoot. Holy cra—cow. _Gosh darn it_."

Jace shot Will an 'if looks could kill' look. "We need to come up with a plan. Alec, why don't you and Jem come in so we can fill you in on the 'other story' as Clary so brilliantly named it." Jace looked at Clary, his eyes wary. "I need you to go find Isabelle, she'll be pissed if we leave her out of this."

"Yes, let's leave Jessamine out of it. She's a bit of a pain in the ass to work with, if you know what I mean." Will added.

"I have no problem leaving the bitch out. I'll go get Isabelle while you fill Alec and Jem in," Clary said decisively, leaving the room. "Don't worry; I can fill her in on our way back to your room."

Jace proceeded to retell the account, not leaving any details out, and with minimal interruptions from Alec, Jem and Will—who had gone strangely quiet after hearing the name 'Tessa' mentioned at the door. The girl clearly meant something to both Jem and Will, seeing as she was their main concern. Alec's was Magnus.

When Clary and Isabelle arrived, Isabelle, looking incredibly pissed already, walked over and slapped Jace in the face. "What was that for?" he asked, incredulous.

"For disappearing and taking so long to clue me in to this. And also for letting Clary see you kiss the she-whore." Isabelle replied sweetly. She and Clary sat down on Jace's bed.

"What do we know so far?" Jem asked, down to business.

"We know that the person called the Magister is working with Jonathan and Nathaniel, and that they have Tessa, Simon, Luke, and Magnus. We also know that they have a vial of monkey blood, thanks to Jace, and that they want me to draw runes for them to un-make Shadowhunters, or something along those lines." Clary said, ticking off each point with her fingers.

"They need Jace's blood for the ceremony?" Jem asked. "If they don't have it, the whole thing won't work then."

Jace nodded. "Yes, and they have no idea that I really gave them the blood of a monkey and tree sap."

"Then I say we give them what they want," Will said, his eyes alight with mischief. "I don't know what you call it in America, but in Britain, there's this thing called _blackmail_. You dangle something they want in front of their face, make a deal or a trade with them, and then give them the mock-version of whatever they were looking for in the first place."

Alec nodded. "I get it. You're saying that since they are missing one part of the ceremony, namely Jace's more-angel-than-normal-Shadowhunter-blood blood, that if Clary draws the runes for them, nothing will happen and while they are distracted with that, we can sneak in and get the others."

The plan sounded solid. "Then, tomorrow night at midnight, Clary and I will go to the Brocelind Forest. You will all follow behind us, unseen—Clary can glamour you, and while we are distracting Jonathan, Nathaniel, and the Magister, you can help the others escape." Jace concluded, a serious light in his eyes.

"This is one of those cheesy moments when we all put our hands in and yell 'Break!' isn't it?" Will asked with a mocking tone in his voice, and was flawlessly ignored by the others in the room. "Okay, ignore me; pretend it wasn't me who came up with this _brilliant_ plan."

"Will, just _shut up_." Alec looked in surprise to see that it wasn't Jace who said that, but the ever-temperate Jem.

**Review for me? Let me know if you liked it, didn't like it, etc. I'm not sure if I liked the ending of this chapter, I had no idea where to stop, so this is what you get. Sorry for any grammatical errors, I'm editing this story by myself. I'll try to update soon!**

**Xoxo,**

**FireandIce95**


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